diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
index 5330b17768c..17d2d6713c6 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/CHANGES.txt
@@ -470,6 +470,9 @@ Release 2.1.1-beta - UNRELEASED
 
     HADOOP-9935. set junit dependency to test scope. (André Kelpe via cnauroth)
 
+    HADOOP-9961. versions of a few transitive dependencies diverged between hadoop 
+    subprojects. (rvs via tucu)
+
 Release 2.1.0-beta - 2013-08-22
 
   INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml
index 6f7fa0f0259..7b11971f458 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/pom.xml
@@ -250,7 +250,6 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-compress</artifactId>
-      <version>1.4</version>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-nfs/pom.xml b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-nfs/pom.xml
index 468c84d9ebc..9e903b2fa0f 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-nfs/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-nfs/pom.xml
@@ -86,13 +86,11 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.netty</groupId>
       <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
-      <version>3.6.2.Final</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
       <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
-      <version>11.0.2</version>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-nfs/pom.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-nfs/pom.xml
index 9577fe180f7..7b0c31ecdb3 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-nfs/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-nfs/pom.xml
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.netty</groupId>
       <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
-      <version>3.6.2.Final</version>
       <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml
index 537dee79c4d..253dba85e25 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/contrib/bkjournal/pom.xml
@@ -36,7 +36,25 @@ http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <hadoop.common.build.dir>${basedir}/../../../../../hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/target</hadoop.common.build.dir>
   </properties>
 
+  <dependencyManagement>
+    <dependencies>
+      <!-- This is a really old version of netty, that gets privatized
+           via shading and hence it is not managed via a parent pom -->
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.jboss.netty</groupId>
+        <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
+        <version>3.2.4.Final</version>
+      </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+  </dependencyManagement>
+
   <dependencies>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.jboss.netty</groupId>
+      <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
+      <scope>compile</scope>
+    </dependency>
+
     <dependency>
       <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
diff --git a/hadoop-project/pom.xml b/hadoop-project/pom.xml
index fd09dcfe225..0e1fab3c308 100644
--- a/hadoop-project/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-project/pom.xml
@@ -318,6 +318,11 @@
         <artifactId>commons-math</artifactId>
         <version>2.1</version>
       </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
+        <artifactId>commons-compress</artifactId>
+        <version>1.4.1</version>
+      </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>xmlenc</groupId>
         <artifactId>xmlenc</artifactId>
@@ -360,6 +365,23 @@
         <version>6.1.26</version>
       </dependency>
 
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.glassfish</groupId>
+        <artifactId>javax.servlet</artifactId>
+        <version>3.1</version>
+      </dependency>
+
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
+        <artifactId>plexus-utils</artifactId>
+        <version>2.0.5</version>
+      </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
+        <artifactId>plexus-component-annotations</artifactId>
+        <version>1.5.5</version>
+      </dependency>
+
       <dependency>
         <groupId>asm</groupId>
         <artifactId>asm</artifactId>
@@ -420,7 +442,7 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>io.netty</groupId>
         <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
-        <version>3.5.11.Final</version>
+        <version>3.6.2.Final</version>
       </dependency>
 
       <dependency>
@@ -666,6 +688,10 @@
             <groupId>com.sun.jmx</groupId>
             <artifactId>jmxri</artifactId>
           </exclusion>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>org.jboss.netty</groupId>
+            <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
         </exclusions>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
@@ -674,6 +700,12 @@
         <version>3.4.2</version>
         <type>test-jar</type>
         <scope>test</scope>
+        <exclusions>
+          <exclusion>
+            <groupId>org.jboss.netty</groupId>
+            <artifactId>netty</artifactId>
+          </exclusion>
+        </exclusions>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>org.apache.bookkeeper</groupId>
@@ -708,7 +740,7 @@
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
           <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
-          <version>2.1</version>
+          <version>2.2</version>
         </plugin>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 31ccff8b8cc..dff990e24bc 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -105,10 +105,15 @@ xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xs
   <build>
     <pluginManagement>
       <plugins>
+        <plugin>
+          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+          <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
+          <version>2.4</version>
+        </plugin>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
           <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
-          <version>1.0</version>
+          <version>1.3.1</version>
           <configuration>
             <rules>
               <requireMavenVersion>
@@ -224,7 +229,7 @@ xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xs
                   <pluginExecutionFilter>
                     <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                     <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
-                    <versionRange>[2.1,)</versionRange>
+                    <versionRange>[2.4,)</versionRange>
                     <goals>
                       <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
                       <goal>build-classpath</goal>