diff --git a/project.properties b/project.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d90d7a6aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#maven.checkstyle.properties=src/conf/checkstyle.properties
+
+maven.javadoc.author=false
+maven.javadoc.links=http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.4/docs/api
+
+maven.compile.debug=on
+maven.compile.deprecation=off
+maven.compile.optimize=off
+
+maven.jarResources.basedir=src/java
+maven.jar.excludes=**/package.html
+maven.junit.fork=true
+
+clover.excludes=**/Test*.java
diff --git a/project.xml b/project.xml
index d9a46420b..e6c2802c5 100644
--- a/project.xml
+++ b/project.xml
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@
       <version>3.7</version>
     </dependency>
 
+    <!-- these two are required by maven -->
+    <dependency><id>xml-apis</id><version>2.0.2</version></dependency>
+    <dependency><id>xerces</id><version>2.0.2</version></dependency>
+    <!-- /these two are required by maven -->
+
   </dependencies>
 
   <build>