diff --git a/core/dependencies-descriptor.xml b/core/dependencies-descriptor.xml
index 3ed7368192..0782ef57bd 100644
--- a/core/dependencies-descriptor.xml
+++ b/core/dependencies-descriptor.xml
@@ -24,26 +24,26 @@
     ====================================================================
 -->
 <assembly>
-  <id>dependencies</id>
-  <formats>
-    <format>dir</format>
-  </formats>
-  <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
-  <dependencySets>
-    <dependencySet>
-      <scope>runtime</scope>
-      <useProjectArtifact>false</useProjectArtifact>
-      <!-- exclude all the dependencies that are included in jar-with-dependencies and
-        JarJar-ed --> 
-      <excludes>
-        <exclude>javax.annotation:jsr250-api</exclude>
-        <exclude>javax.inject:inject</exclude>
-        <exclude>org.jboss.resteasy:jaxrs-api</exclude>
-        <exclude>com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305</exclude>
-        <exclude>com.google.common:google-guava</exclude>
-        <exclude>com.google.collections:google-collections</exclude>
-        <exclude>com.google.code.guice:guice</exclude>
-      </excludes>
-    </dependencySet>
-  </dependencySets>
+    <id>dependencies</id>
+    <formats>
+        <format>dir</format>
+    </formats>
+    <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+    <dependencySets>
+        <dependencySet>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
+            <useProjectArtifact>false</useProjectArtifact>
+            <!-- exclude all the dependencies that are included in jar-with-dependencies and
+              JarJar-ed. See jar-with-dependencies-descriptor.xml. --> 
+            <excludes>
+                <exclude>javax.annotation:jsr250-api</exclude>
+                <exclude>javax.inject:inject</exclude>
+                <exclude>org.jboss.resteasy:jaxrs-api</exclude>
+                <exclude>com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305</exclude>
+                <exclude>com.google.common:google-guava</exclude>
+                <exclude>com.google.collections:google-collections</exclude>
+                <exclude>com.google.code.guice:guice</exclude>
+            </excludes>
+        </dependencySet>
+    </dependencySets>
 </assembly>
diff --git a/core/jar-with-dependencies-descriptor.xml b/core/jar-with-dependencies-descriptor.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..44d96afd9c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/jar-with-dependencies-descriptor.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!--
+    $HeadURL$ 
+    $Revision$ 
+    $Date$ 
+    
+    Copyright (C) 2009 Adrian Cole <adrian@jclouds.org>
+
+    ====================================================================
+    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or
+    more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+    distributed with this work for additional information regarding
+    copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to you under the
+    Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use
+    this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+    a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html Unless required
+    by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed
+    under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+    See the License for the specific language governing permissions
+    and limitations under the License.
+    ====================================================================
+-->
+<assembly>
+    <id>jar-with-dependencies</id>
+    <formats>
+        <format>jar</format>
+    </formats>
+    <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+    <dependencySets>
+        <dependencySet>
+            <unpack>true</unpack>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
+            <!-- only those dependencies that need to be JarJar-ed. See
+              dependencies-descriptor.xml. -->
+            <includes>
+                <include>javax.annotation:jsr250-api</include>
+                <include>javax.inject:inject</include>
+                <include>org.jboss.resteasy:jaxrs-api</include>
+                <include>com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305</include>
+                <include>com.google.common:google-guava</include>
+                <include>com.google.collections:google-collections</include>
+                <include>com.google.code.guice:guice</include>
+            </includes>
+        </dependencySet>
+    </dependencySets>
+    <fileSets>
+        <fileSet>
+            <directory>${project.build.outputDirectory}</directory>
+            <outputDirectory />
+        </fileSet>
+    </fileSets>
+</assembly>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/pom.xml b/core/pom.xml
index 81204b322d..98049341db 100644
--- a/core/pom.xml
+++ b/core/pom.xml
@@ -113,10 +113,10 @@
                             <goal>single</goal>
                         </goals>
                         <configuration>
-                            <descriptorRefs>
-                                <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
-                            </descriptorRefs>
                             <descriptors>
+                                <!-- the first includes only those dependencies to be
+                                  JarJar-ed, the second the remainder -->
+                                <descriptor>jar-with-dependencies-descriptor.xml</descriptor>
                                 <descriptor>dependencies-descriptor.xml</descriptor>
                             </descriptors>
                         </configuration>