diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-core-consumers/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-core-consumers/pom.xml
index 2d913d482..6d5a4e100 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-core-consumers/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-core-consumers/pom.xml
@@ -140,11 +140,6 @@
       <artifactId>wagon-http-lightweight</artifactId>
       <scope>provided</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.assertj</groupId>
       <artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-lucene-consumers/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-lucene-consumers/pom.xml
index 26d51b194..5fb4f7e72 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-lucene-consumers/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-consumers/archiva-lucene-consumers/pom.xml
@@ -125,11 +125,6 @@
         </exclusion>
       </exclusions>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-converter/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-converter/pom.xml
index 6835a6f22..9e3c8c646 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-converter/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-converter/pom.xml
@@ -91,11 +91,6 @@
       <version>${project.version}</version>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-indexer/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-indexer/pom.xml
index 2e82af1a5..7a2a9145a 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-indexer/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-indexer/pom.xml
@@ -163,11 +163,6 @@
       <artifactId>wagon-http-lightweight</artifactId>
       <scope>provided</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <pluginManagement>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-proxy/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-proxy/pom.xml
index 0bfe277d8..850504f03 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-proxy/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-proxy/pom.xml
@@ -199,11 +199,6 @@
       <artifactId>redback-common-test-resources</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.assertj</groupId>
       <artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-repository-admin/archiva-repository-admin-default/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-repository-admin/archiva-repository-admin-default/pom.xml
index 07c541cd2..ed2aec81c 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-repository-admin/archiva-repository-admin-default/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-repository-admin/archiva-repository-admin-default/pom.xml
@@ -223,12 +223,6 @@
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
 
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.archiva</groupId>
       <artifactId>archiva-mock</artifactId>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-indexing/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-indexing/pom.xml
index 9f96bcafe..22ddcd35d 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-indexing/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-indexing/pom.xml
@@ -171,12 +171,6 @@
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
 
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
   </dependencies>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository-api/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository-api/pom.xml
index eea580490..006543233 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository-api/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository-api/pom.xml
@@ -68,12 +68,6 @@
       <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
     </dependency>
 
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository/pom.xml
index f370a519c..11765cd81 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-scheduler/archiva-scheduler-repository/pom.xml
@@ -121,11 +121,6 @@
       <artifactId>mockito-all</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rest/archiva-rest-services/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rest/archiva-rest-services/pom.xml
index 6213b038f..9dacb64f8 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rest/archiva-rest-services/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rest/archiva-rest-services/pom.xml
@@ -403,11 +403,6 @@
       <artifactId>tomcat-jsp-api</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.archiva</groupId>
       <artifactId>archiva-metadata-consumer</artifactId>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rss/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rss/pom.xml
index 18129276a..b9e47ce08 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rss/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-rss/pom.xml
@@ -72,11 +72,6 @@
       <artifactId>spring-test</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-security/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-security/pom.xml
index 87c0611f7..4594d564a 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-security/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-security/pom.xml
@@ -192,11 +192,6 @@
       <artifactId>metadata-store-file</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-web-common/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-web-common/pom.xml
index e6126425a..41d3cc5a8 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-web-common/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-web-common/pom.xml
@@ -408,12 +408,6 @@
       <artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
   </dependencies>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp-test/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp-test/pom.xml
index fa3ff9e26..b6881d402 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp-test/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp-test/pom.xml
@@ -106,12 +106,6 @@
       <version>${fluentlenium.version}</version>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
-
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.fluentlenium</groupId>
       <artifactId>fluentlenium-core</artifactId>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp/pom.xml
index 303800c73..114b843d1 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webapp/pom.xml
@@ -271,11 +271,6 @@
       <groupId>org.codehaus.woodstox</groupId>
       <artifactId>woodstox-core-asl</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-    <!-- to help was8 to find dom parser impl -->
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.ant</groupId>
       <artifactId>ant</artifactId>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/pom.xml
index c8894a460..fb2386e88 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/pom.xml
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@
     <redbackTestJdbcUrl>jdbc:hsqldb:mem:redback-test</redbackTestJdbcUrl>
     <redbackTestJdbcDriver>org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver</redbackTestJdbcDriver>
     <webdav.argLine>-Xmx512m -Xms512m -client</webdav.argLine>
+    <htmlunit.version>2.13</htmlunit.version>
+    <!-- TODO remove this once we've been able to upgrade htmlunit with removing xercesImpl.. -->
+    <enforcer.skip>true</enforcer.skip>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencies>
@@ -164,6 +167,11 @@
       <artifactId>jetty-server</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jetty-util</artifactId>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
       <artifactId>jetty-plus</artifactId>
@@ -183,13 +191,28 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>net.sourceforge.htmlunit</groupId>
       <artifactId>htmlunit</artifactId>
-      <version>2.13</version>
+      <version>${htmlunit.version}</version>
       <scope>test</scope>
+      <exclusions>
+        <exclusion>
+          <groupId>xerces</groupId>
+          <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
+        </exclusion>
+      </exclusions>
     </dependency>
 
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>xml-apis</groupId>
+      <artifactId>xml-apis</artifactId>
+      <version>1.4.01</version>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+
+    <!-- only test because htmlunit really need it -->
     <dependency>
       <groupId>xerces</groupId>
       <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
+      <version>2.12.2</version>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
 
diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/src/test/java/org/apache/archiva/webdav/DavResourceTest.java b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/src/test/java/org/apache/archiva/webdav/DavResourceTest.java
index 0d99709b6..a86e05d6d 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/src/test/java/org/apache/archiva/webdav/DavResourceTest.java
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-web/archiva-webdav/src/test/java/org/apache/archiva/webdav/DavResourceTest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.apache.archiva.admin.model.beans.ManagedRepository;
 import org.apache.archiva.repository.events.AuditListener;
 import org.apache.archiva.common.filelock.FileLockManager;
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
+import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.webdav.DavException;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.webdav.DavResource;
 import org.apache.jackrabbit.webdav.DavResourceFactory;
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ public class DavResourceTest
     public void testDeleteNonExistantResourceShould404()
         throws Exception
     {
+
         File dir = new File( baseDir, "testdir" );
         try
         {
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/maven2-repository/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/maven2-repository/pom.xml
index 1d870b3eb..e7f9bdd89 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/maven2-repository/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/maven2-repository/pom.xml
@@ -186,13 +186,6 @@
       <groupId>org.apache.logging.log4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>log4j-1.2-api</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-cassandra/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-cassandra/pom.xml
index 1c076a453..f68d3e146 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-cassandra/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-cassandra/pom.xml
@@ -156,13 +156,6 @@
       <artifactId>disruptor</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <testResources>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-file/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-file/pom.xml
index 8e408628a..084ba649d 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-file/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-file/pom.xml
@@ -86,11 +86,6 @@
       <artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-jcr/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-jcr/pom.xml
index 2263d6d4f..a9fadd5b7 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-jcr/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/metadata-store-jcr/pom.xml
@@ -93,11 +93,6 @@
       <artifactId>assertj-core</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <testResources>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/problem-reports/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/problem-reports/pom.xml
index 713d67a1e..b21330a3d 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/problem-reports/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/problem-reports/pom.xml
@@ -69,11 +69,6 @@
       <artifactId>test-repository</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/repository-statistics/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/repository-statistics/pom.xml
index 907091745..3fa38f554 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/repository-statistics/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/repository-statistics/pom.xml
@@ -75,11 +75,6 @@
       <artifactId>mockito-all</artifactId>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/archiva-modules/plugins/stage-repository-merge/pom.xml b/archiva-modules/plugins/stage-repository-merge/pom.xml
index 20ab0d8d4..4c0109268 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/plugins/stage-repository-merge/pom.xml
+++ b/archiva-modules/plugins/stage-repository-merge/pom.xml
@@ -113,11 +113,6 @@
         </exclusion>
       </exclusions>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-      <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 2f619b07b..bf0084fd5 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -171,12 +171,6 @@
           </exclusion>
         </exclusions>
       </dependency>
-      <dependency>
-        <groupId>xerces</groupId>
-        <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>
-        <version>2.12.2</version>
-      </dependency>
-
       <dependency>
         <groupId>javax.inject</groupId>
         <artifactId>javax.inject</artifactId>
@@ -1370,6 +1364,11 @@
         <artifactId>jetty-plus</artifactId>
         <version>${jettyVersion}</version>
       </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
+        <artifactId>jetty-util</artifactId>
+        <version>${jettyVersion}</version>
+      </dependency>
 
 
       <dependency>
@@ -1612,6 +1611,7 @@
                     <exclude>xom:xom</exclude>
                     <exclude>struts:struts</exclude>
                     <exclude>stax:stax-api</exclude>
+                    <exclude>xerces:xercesImpl</exclude>
                     <exclude>org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-xwork-integration</exclude>
                     <exclude>org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-component-api</exclude>
                     <exclude>org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-container-default</exclude>