diff --git a/build.properties b/build.properties
index bcd12d2add..7a7e24cd72 100644
--- a/build.properties
+++ b/build.properties
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 classworlds.version=1.2-alpha-7
 plexus-active-collections.version=1.0-beta-1
-plexus.version=1.0-alpha-23
+plexus.version=1.0-alpha-24
 plexus-utils.version=1.4.1
 plexus-interactivity-api.version=1.0-alpha-6-SNAPSHOT
 commons-cli.version=1.0
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 3725d93f59..ca2ef84113 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ under the License.
     <pull orgpath="org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-active-collections" version="${plexus-active-collections.version}" name="plexus-active-collections" repository="codehaus"/>
     <pull orgpath="org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-utils" version="${plexus-utils.version}" name="plexus-utils" repository="codehaus"/>
     <pull orgpath="org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-container-default" version="${plexus.version}" name="plexus-container-default" repository="codehaus"/>
+    <pull orgpath="org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-component-api" version="${plexus.version}" name="plexus-component-api" repository="codehaus"/>    
     <pull orgpath="org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-classworlds" version="${classworlds.version}" name="plexus-classworlds" repository="codehaus"/>
     <pull orgpath="org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-interactivity-api" version="${plexus-interactivity-api.version}" name="plexus-interactivity-api" repository="codehaus"/>
     <pull orgpath="org/apache/maven/maven-parent" version="4" name="maven-parent" type="pom"/>
diff --git a/maven-core/pom.xml b/maven-core/pom.xml
index a6c11a4add..2249f45c54 100644
--- a/maven-core/pom.xml
+++ b/maven-core/pom.xml
@@ -74,11 +74,6 @@ under the License.
       <groupId>org.codehaus.plexus</groupId>
       <artifactId>plexus-container-default</artifactId>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
-      <artifactId>maven-repository-metadata</artifactId>
-      <version>2.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
       <artifactId>maven-error-diagnostics</artifactId>
diff --git a/maven-embedder/pom.xml b/maven-embedder/pom.xml
index 4398f3f6c2..9951385d4a 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/pom.xml
+++ b/maven-embedder/pom.xml
@@ -44,9 +44,7 @@ under the License.
         <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
         <version>2.1</version>
         <configuration>
-          <descriptors>
-            <descriptor>src/main/assembly/bin.xml</descriptor>
-          </descriptors>
+          <descriptor>src/main/assembly/bin.xml</descriptor>
           <finalName>maven-${version}</finalName>
         </configuration>
         <executions>
@@ -61,7 +59,7 @@ under the License.
       <plugin>
         <artifactId>shade-maven-plugin</artifactId>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-        <version>1.0-alpha-8-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>1.0-alpha-4</version>
         <executions>
           <execution>
             <phase>package</phase>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 62ae810ff3..3d6db5f01e 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ under the License.
     <module>maven-embedder</module>
   </modules>
   <properties>
-    <plexusVersion>1.0-alpha-23</plexusVersion>
+    <plexusVersion>1.0-alpha-24</plexusVersion>
     <wagonVersion>1.0-beta-2</wagonVersion>
   </properties>
   <dependencies>