diff --git a/maven-plugins/maven-ear-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/ApplicationXmlWriter.java b/maven-plugins/maven-ear-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/ApplicationXmlWriter.java
index 9f1e2a377d..b2c8ac85d0 100644
--- a/maven-plugins/maven-ear-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/ApplicationXmlWriter.java
+++ b/maven-plugins/maven-ear-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/ear/ApplicationXmlWriter.java
@@ -70,24 +70,14 @@ public final class ApplicationXmlWriter
         if ( GenerateApplicationXmlMojo.VERSION_1_3.equals( version ) )
         {
             writer = initializeRootElementOneDotThree( w );
+            writeDisplayName(displayName, writer);
+            writeDescription(description, writer);
         }
         else if ( GenerateApplicationXmlMojo.VERSION_1_4.equals( version ) )
         {
             writer = initializeRootElementOneDotFour( w );
-        }
-
-        if ( description != null )
-        {
-            writer.startElement( "description" );
-            writer.writeText( description );
-            writer.endElement();
-        }
-
-        if ( displayName != null )
-        {
-            writer.startElement( "display-name" );
-            writer.writeText( displayName );
-            writer.endElement();
+            writeDescription(description, writer);
+            writeDisplayName(displayName, writer);
         }
 
         Iterator i = earModules.iterator();
@@ -101,6 +91,26 @@ public final class ApplicationXmlWriter
         close( w );
     }
 
+    private void writeDescription(String description, XMLWriter writer)
+    {
+        if ( description != null )
+        {
+            writer.startElement( "description" );
+            writer.writeText( description );
+            writer.endElement();
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void writeDisplayName(String displayName, XMLWriter writer)
+    {
+        if ( displayName != null )
+        {
+            writer.startElement( "display-name" );
+            writer.writeText( displayName );
+            writer.endElement();
+        }
+    }
+
     private void close( Writer closeable )
     {
         if ( closeable == null )