WebDriverException: Could not initialize class java.util.UUID$Holder

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I have a python program running in a docker container trying to connect to a remote webdriver, and while it worked yesterday ;) ...

Here's a transcript of a python shell session from the calling machine:

>>> options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()

>>> options.add_argument('--headless')

>>> browser = webdriver.Remote("http://%s:4444/wd/hub" % SELENIUM_HOST,DesiredCapabilities.CHROME, options=options)

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>

  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 154, in __init__

    self.start_session(desired_capabilities, browser_profile)

  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 243, in start_session

    response = self.execute(Command.NEW_SESSION, parameters)

  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/webdriver.py", line 312, in execute

    self.error_handler.check_response(response)

  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/selenium/webdriver/remote/errorhandler.py", line 242, in check_response

    raise exception_class(message, screen, stacktrace)

selenium.common.exceptions.WebDriverException: Message: Could not initialize class java.util.UUID$Holder

The Selenium host reports the same:

16:20:35.639 INFO - Executing: [new session: Capabilities [{goog:chromeOptions={args=[--headless], extensions=[]}, browserName=chrome, version=, platform=ANY}]])

16:20:35.639 INFO - Error: Could not initialize class java.util.UUID$Holder

What could be going wrong with the universal ID?  

When run from the command line on the calling machine, curl SELENIUM_HOST:4444 gives the info page, so the connection and port are clear.

On the Selenium server side I'm using version: '3.4.0' with openjdk version "1.8.0_171"