diff --git a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/FileProfileActivator.java b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/FileProfileActivator.java
index e45eb1e78f..081ff5fdfb 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/FileProfileActivator.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/FileProfileActivator.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package org.apache.maven.profiles.activation;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import org.apache.maven.model.Activation;
@@ -29,8 +30,6 @@ import org.codehaus.plexus.interpolation.MapBasedValueSource;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.interpolation.RegexBasedInterpolator;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.LogEnabled;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.Logger;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * FileProfileActivator
@@ -62,16 +61,18 @@ public class FileProfileActivator extends DetectedProfileActivator implements Lo
 
             try {
                 if (fileString != null && !fileString.isEmpty()) {
-                    fileString = StringUtils.replace(interpolator.interpolate(fileString, ""), "\\", "/");
-                    return FileUtils.fileExists(fileString);
+                    fileString = interpolator.interpolate(fileString, "").replace("\\", "/");
+                    File file = new File(fileString);
+                    return file.exists();
                 }
 
                 // check if the file is missing, if it is then the profile will be active
                 fileString = actFile.getMissing();
 
                 if (fileString != null && !fileString.isEmpty()) {
-                    fileString = StringUtils.replace(interpolator.interpolate(fileString, ""), "\\", "/");
-                    return !FileUtils.fileExists(fileString);
+                    fileString = interpolator.interpolate(fileString, "").replace("\\", "/");
+                    File file = new File(fileString);
+                    return !file.exists();
                 }
             } catch (InterpolationException e) {
                 if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
diff --git a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/JdkPrefixProfileActivator.java b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/JdkPrefixProfileActivator.java
index a1e9b9b880..4e18159c75 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/JdkPrefixProfileActivator.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/profiles/activation/JdkPrefixProfileActivator.java
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.artifact.versioning.InvalidVersionSpecificationException
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.versioning.VersionRange;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Activation;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Profile;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * JdkPrefixProfileActivator
@@ -77,6 +76,7 @@ public class JdkPrefixProfileActivator extends DetectedProfileActivator {
 
     protected boolean canDetectActivation(Profile profile) {
         return profile.getActivation() != null
-                && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(profile.getActivation().getJdk());
+                && profile.getActivation().getJdk() != null
+                && !profile.getActivation().getJdk().isEmpty();
     }
 }
diff --git a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/DefaultWagonManager.java b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/DefaultWagonManager.java
index 7a590981ff..4fa05c9b14 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/DefaultWagonManager.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/DefaultWagonManager.java
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ import javax.inject.Singleton;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
+import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
 import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -53,7 +58,6 @@ import org.codehaus.plexus.PlexusContainer;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.exception.ComponentLifecycleException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.exception.ComponentLookupException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.Logger;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.ConfigurationProperties;
 import org.eclipse.aether.util.ConfigUtils;
 
@@ -453,7 +457,11 @@ public class DefaultWagonManager implements WagonManager {
             // then we will use a brute force copy and delete the temporary file.
             if (!temp.renameTo(destination)) {
                 try {
-                    FileUtils.copyFile(temp, destination);
+                    Files.copy(
+                            temp.toPath(),
+                            destination.toPath(),
+                            StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING,
+                            StandardCopyOption.COPY_ATTRIBUTES);
 
                     if (!temp.delete()) {
                         temp.deleteOnExit();
@@ -533,7 +541,9 @@ public class DefaultWagonManager implements WagonManager {
                 // TODO shouldn't need a file intermediary - improve wagon to take a stream
                 File temp = File.createTempFile("maven-artifact", null);
                 temp.deleteOnExit();
-                FileUtils.fileWrite(temp.getAbsolutePath(), "UTF-8", sums.get(extension));
+                byte[] bytes = sums.get(extension).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+                Files.write(
+                        Paths.get(temp.getAbsolutePath()), bytes, StandardOpenOption.APPEND, StandardOpenOption.CREATE);
 
                 temporaryFiles.add(temp);
                 wagon.put(temp, remotePath + "." + extension);
@@ -612,8 +622,8 @@ public class DefaultWagonManager implements WagonManager {
             File tempChecksumFile = new File(tempDestination + checksumFileExtension + ".tmp");
             tempChecksumFile.deleteOnExit();
             wagon.get(remotePath + checksumFileExtension, tempChecksumFile);
-
-            String expectedChecksum = FileUtils.fileRead(tempChecksumFile, "UTF-8");
+            byte[] bytes = Files.readAllBytes(tempChecksumFile.toPath());
+            String expectedChecksum = new String(bytes, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 
             // remove whitespaces at the end
             expectedChecksum = expectedChecksum.trim();
@@ -636,7 +646,12 @@ public class DefaultWagonManager implements WagonManager {
                 if (checksumFile.exists()) {
                     checksumFile.delete(); // ignore if failed as we will overwrite
                 }
-                FileUtils.copyFile(tempChecksumFile, checksumFile);
+                Files.copy(
+                        tempChecksumFile.toPath(),
+                        checksumFile.toPath(),
+                        StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING,
+                        StandardCopyOption.COPY_ATTRIBUTES);
+
                 if (!tempChecksumFile.delete()) {
                     tempChecksumFile.deleteOnExit();
                 }
diff --git a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/LegacyRepositorySystem.java b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/LegacyRepositorySystem.java
index 327b30942c..fac3efb398 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/LegacyRepositorySystem.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/LegacyRepositorySystem.java
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.wagon.proxy.ProxyUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.PlexusContainer;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.exception.ComponentLookupException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.Logger;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.repository.AuthenticationContext;
 import org.eclipse.aether.repository.AuthenticationSelector;
@@ -475,7 +474,7 @@ public class LegacyRepositorySystem implements RepositorySystem {
             repository.setId(mirror.getId());
             repository.setUrl(mirror.getUrl());
 
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(mirror.getLayout())) {
+            if (mirror.getLayout() != null && !mirror.getLayout().isEmpty()) {
                 repository.setLayout(getLayout(mirror.getLayout()));
             }
 
@@ -557,7 +556,8 @@ public class LegacyRepositorySystem implements RepositorySystem {
         if (proxies != null && repository.getProtocol() != null) {
             for (org.apache.maven.settings.Proxy proxy : proxies) {
                 if (proxy.isActive() && repository.getProtocol().equalsIgnoreCase(proxy.getProtocol())) {
-                    if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(proxy.getNonProxyHosts())) {
+                    if (proxy.getNonProxyHosts() != null
+                            && !proxy.getNonProxyHosts().isEmpty()) {
                         ProxyInfo pi = new ProxyInfo();
                         pi.setNonProxyHosts(proxy.getNonProxyHosts());
 
diff --git a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/resolver/transform/SnapshotTransformation.java b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/resolver/transform/SnapshotTransformation.java
index 08765b247e..4f2e5058ab 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/resolver/transform/SnapshotTransformation.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/legacy/resolver/transform/SnapshotTransformation.java
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.Snapshot;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.Versioning;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.resolver.ArtifactResolutionException;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  */
@@ -117,7 +116,7 @@ public class SnapshotTransformation extends AbstractVersionTransformation {
         if (snapshot != null) {
             if (snapshot.getTimestamp() != null && snapshot.getBuildNumber() > 0) {
                 String newVersion = snapshot.getTimestamp() + "-" + snapshot.getBuildNumber();
-                version = StringUtils.replace(baseVersion, Artifact.SNAPSHOT_VERSION, newVersion);
+                version = baseVersion.replace(Artifact.SNAPSHOT_VERSION, newVersion);
             } else {
                 version = baseVersion;
             }
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/io/DefaultMetadataReader.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/io/DefaultMetadataReader.java
index 1b1a656dcd..e4f4a97e13 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/io/DefaultMetadataReader.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/io/DefaultMetadataReader.java
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.Reader;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.Metadata;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.XmlStreamReader;
 
 /**
  * Handles deserialization of metadata from some kind of textual format like XML.
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ public class DefaultMetadataReader implements MetadataReader {
     public Metadata read(File input, Map<String, ?> options) throws IOException {
         Objects.requireNonNull(input, "input cannot be null");
 
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(input), options);
+        return read(new XmlStreamReader(Files.newInputStream(input.toPath())), options);
     }
 
     public Metadata read(Reader input, Map<String, ?> options) throws IOException {
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bridge/MavenRepositorySystem.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bridge/MavenRepositorySystem.java
index fcb0d2ecfe..54766d5086 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bridge/MavenRepositorySystem.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bridge/MavenRepositorySystem.java
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.model.Dependency;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Plugin;
 import org.apache.maven.repository.Proxy;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.Mirror;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.repository.AuthenticationContext;
 import org.eclipse.aether.repository.AuthenticationSelector;
@@ -211,7 +210,7 @@ public class MavenRepositorySystem {
             repository.setId(mirror.getId());
             repository.setUrl(mirror.getUrl());
 
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(mirror.getLayout())) {
+            if (mirror.getLayout() != null && !mirror.getLayout().isEmpty()) {
                 repository.setLayout(getLayout(mirror.getLayout()));
             }
 
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/graph/DefaultGraphBuilder.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/graph/DefaultGraphBuilder.java
index b813f42e2c..6e617eace8 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/graph/DefaultGraphBuilder.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/graph/DefaultGraphBuilder.java
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.project.ProjectBuildingException;
 import org.apache.maven.project.collector.MultiModuleCollectionStrategy;
 import org.apache.maven.project.collector.PomlessCollectionStrategy;
 import org.apache.maven.project.collector.RequestPomCollectionStrategy;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.dag.CycleDetectedException;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -202,7 +201,7 @@ public class DefaultGraphBuilder implements GraphBuilder {
             throws MavenExecutionException {
         List<MavenProject> result = projects;
 
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(request.getResumeFrom())) {
+        if (request.getResumeFrom() != null && !request.getResumeFrom().isEmpty()) {
             File reactorDirectory = projectSelector.getBaseDirectoryFromRequest(request);
 
             String selector = request.getResumeFrom();
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleExecutionPlanCalculator.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleExecutionPlanCalculator.java
index 01fca49499..1fb3c176ef 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleExecutionPlanCalculator.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleExecutionPlanCalculator.java
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.plugin.lifecycle.Phase;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.prefix.NoPluginFoundForPrefixException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.version.PluginVersionResolutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.project.MavenProject;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * <strong>NOTE:</strong> This class is not part of any public api and can be changed or deleted without prior notice.
@@ -317,8 +316,10 @@ public class DefaultLifecycleExecutionPlanCalculator implements LifecycleExecuti
                 if (parameterConfiguration != null) {
                     Map<String, String> attributes = new HashMap<>(parameterConfiguration.getAttributes());
 
-                    if (StringUtils.isEmpty(parameterConfiguration.getAttribute("implementation"))
-                            && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(parameter.getImplementation())) {
+                    String attributeForImplementation = parameterConfiguration.getAttribute("implementation");
+                    String parameterForImplementation = parameter.getImplementation();
+                    if ((attributeForImplementation == null || attributeForImplementation.isEmpty())
+                            && ((parameterForImplementation != null) && !parameterForImplementation.isEmpty())) {
                         attributes.put("implementation", parameter.getImplementation());
                     }
 
@@ -376,7 +377,8 @@ public class DefaultLifecycleExecutionPlanCalculator implements LifecycleExecuti
 
             List<MojoExecution> forkedExecutions;
 
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(mojoDescriptor.getExecutePhase())) {
+            if (mojoDescriptor.getExecutePhase() != null
+                    && !mojoDescriptor.getExecutePhase().isEmpty()) {
                 forkedExecutions =
                         calculateForkedLifecycle(mojoExecution, session, forkedProject, alreadyPlannedExecutions);
             } else {
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecyclePluginAnalyzer.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecyclePluginAnalyzer.java
index 232fcc73a3..b3c1dc29fb 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecyclePluginAnalyzer.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecyclePluginAnalyzer.java
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.model.Plugin;
 import org.apache.maven.model.PluginExecution;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.PlexusContainer;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.exception.ComponentLookupException;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.Xpp3Dom;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -208,7 +207,7 @@ public class DefaultLifecyclePluginAnalyzer implements LifeCyclePluginAnalyzer {
     private GoalSpec parseGoalSpec(String goalSpec) {
         GoalSpec gs = new GoalSpec();
 
-        String[] p = StringUtils.split(goalSpec.trim(), ":");
+        String[] p = goalSpec.trim().split(":");
 
         if (p.length == 3) {
             // <groupId>:<artifactId>:<goal>
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleTaskSegmentCalculator.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleTaskSegmentCalculator.java
index c53f3872ec..5a50ed18ad 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleTaskSegmentCalculator.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/internal/DefaultLifecycleTaskSegmentCalculator.java
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ import javax.inject.Named;
 import javax.inject.Singleton;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 
 import org.apache.maven.execution.MavenSession;
 import org.apache.maven.lifecycle.LifecycleNotFoundException;
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.plugin.descriptor.MojoDescriptor;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.prefix.NoPluginFoundForPrefixException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.version.PluginVersionResolutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.project.MavenProject;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * <p>
@@ -71,8 +70,14 @@ public class DefaultLifecycleTaskSegmentCalculator implements LifecycleTaskSegme
 
         List<String> tasks = session.getGoals();
 
-        if ((tasks == null || tasks.isEmpty()) && !StringUtils.isEmpty(rootProject.getDefaultGoal())) {
-            tasks = Arrays.asList(StringUtils.split(rootProject.getDefaultGoal()));
+        if ((tasks == null || tasks.isEmpty())
+                && (rootProject.getDefaultGoal() != null
+                        && !rootProject.getDefaultGoal().isEmpty())) {
+            StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(rootProject.getDefaultGoal());
+            tasks = new ArrayList<>();
+            while (tokenizer.hasMoreTokens()) {
+                tasks.add(tokenizer.nextToken());
+            }
         }
 
         return calculateTaskSegments(session, tasks);
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/mapping/LifecyclePhase.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/mapping/LifecyclePhase.java
index cdd11f6a41..7cc65939b0 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/mapping/LifecyclePhase.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/mapping/LifecyclePhase.java
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
-
 /**
  * Mojo (goals) bindings to a lifecycle phase.
  *
@@ -57,7 +55,7 @@ public class LifecyclePhase {
         mojos = new ArrayList<>();
 
         if (goals != null && !goals.isEmpty()) {
-            String[] mojoGoals = StringUtils.split(goals, ",");
+            String[] mojoGoals = goals.split(",");
             mojos = Arrays.stream(mojoGoals).map(fromGoalIntoLifecycleMojo).collect(Collectors.toList());
         }
     }
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/PluginExecutionException.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/PluginExecutionException.java
index 66a3767d59..63c77cb418 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/PluginExecutionException.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/PluginExecutionException.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ package org.apache.maven.plugin;
 
 import org.apache.maven.project.DuplicateArtifactAttachmentException;
 import org.apache.maven.project.MavenProject;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * Exception in the plugin manager.
@@ -65,7 +64,7 @@ public class PluginExecutionException extends PluginManagerException {
             message = "Mojo execution failed";
         }
 
-        if (cause != null && StringUtils.isNotEmpty(cause.getMessage())) {
+        if (cause != null && cause.getMessage() != null && !cause.getMessage().isEmpty()) {
             message += ": " + cause.getMessage();
         } else {
             message += ".";
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultMavenPluginManager.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultMavenPluginManager.java
index e8f4e00ce3..e258664295 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultMavenPluginManager.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultMavenPluginManager.java
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.DefaultPlexusConfiguration;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.PlexusConfiguration;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.PlexusConfigurationException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.personality.plexus.lifecycle.phase.Contextualizable;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.graph.DependencyFilter;
 import org.eclipse.aether.graph.DependencyNode;
@@ -193,7 +192,10 @@ public class DefaultMavenPluginManager implements MavenPluginManager {
 
             PluginDescriptor descriptor = extractPluginDescriptor(pluginArtifact, plugin);
 
-            if (StringUtils.isBlank(descriptor.getRequiredMavenVersion())) {
+            boolean isBlankVersion = descriptor.getRequiredMavenVersion() == null
+                    || descriptor.getRequiredMavenVersion().trim().isEmpty();
+
+            if (isBlankVersion) {
                 // only take value from underlying POM if plugin descriptor has no explicit Maven requirement
                 descriptor.setRequiredMavenVersion(artifact.getProperty("requiredMavenVersion", null));
             }
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultPluginDependenciesResolver.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultPluginDependenciesResolver.java
index fbf04b455f..d1f9b01111 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultPluginDependenciesResolver.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/DefaultPluginDependenciesResolver.java
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.RepositoryUtils;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Dependency;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Plugin;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.PluginResolutionException;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.DefaultRepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystem;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystemSession;
@@ -240,7 +239,7 @@ public class DefaultPluginDependenciesResolver implements PluginDependenciesReso
                 org.eclipse.aether.artifact.Artifact art = dep.getArtifact();
 
                 buffer.append(art);
-                if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(dep.getScope())) {
+                if (dep.getScope() != null && !dep.getScope().isEmpty()) {
                     buffer.append(':').append(dep.getScope());
                 }
 
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/MavenPluginMavenPrerequisiteChecker.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/MavenPluginMavenPrerequisiteChecker.java
index fbe23cc9b0..55dec64fb5 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/MavenPluginMavenPrerequisiteChecker.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/internal/MavenPluginMavenPrerequisiteChecker.java
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ import javax.inject.Singleton;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MavenPluginPrerequisitesChecker;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.descriptor.PluginDescriptor;
 import org.apache.maven.rtinfo.RuntimeInformation;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -44,7 +43,11 @@ public class MavenPluginMavenPrerequisiteChecker implements MavenPluginPrerequis
     @Override
     public void accept(PluginDescriptor pluginDescriptor) {
         String requiredMavenVersion = pluginDescriptor.getRequiredMavenVersion();
-        if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(requiredMavenVersion)) {
+
+        boolean isBlankVersion =
+                requiredMavenVersion == null || requiredMavenVersion.trim().isEmpty();
+
+        if (!isBlankVersion) {
             boolean isRequirementMet = false;
             try {
                 isRequirementMet = runtimeInformation.isMavenVersion(requiredMavenVersion);
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/internal/DefaultPluginVersionResolver.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/internal/DefaultPluginVersionResolver.java
index d21bd960ce..b8c24cb86d 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/internal/DefaultPluginVersionResolver.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/internal/DefaultPluginVersionResolver.java
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.plugin.version.PluginVersionRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.version.PluginVersionResolutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.version.PluginVersionResolver;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.version.PluginVersionResult;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositoryEvent;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositoryEvent.EventType;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositoryListener;
@@ -299,15 +298,21 @@ public class DefaultPluginVersionResolver implements PluginVersionResolver {
     private void mergeMetadata(Versions versions, Metadata source, ArtifactRepository repository) {
         Versioning versioning = source.getVersioning();
         if (versioning != null) {
-            String timestamp = StringUtils.clean(versioning.getLastUpdated());
+            String timestamp = versioning.getLastUpdated() == null
+                    ? ""
+                    : versioning.getLastUpdated().trim();
 
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(versioning.getRelease()) && timestamp.compareTo(versions.releaseTimestamp) > 0) {
+            if (versioning.getRelease() != null
+                    && !versioning.getRelease().isEmpty()
+                    && timestamp.compareTo(versions.releaseTimestamp) > 0) {
                 versions.releaseVersion = versioning.getRelease();
                 versions.releaseTimestamp = timestamp;
                 versions.releaseRepository = repository;
             }
 
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(versioning.getLatest()) && timestamp.compareTo(versions.latestTimestamp) > 0) {
+            if (versioning.getLatest() != null
+                    && !versioning.getLatest().isEmpty()
+                    && timestamp.compareTo(versions.latestTimestamp) > 0) {
                 versions.latestVersion = versioning.getLatest();
                 versions.latestTimestamp = timestamp;
                 versions.latestRepository = repository;
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectBuilder.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectBuilder.java
index 5edf2e88bc..9c1c4e284e 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectBuilder.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectBuilder.java
@@ -24,17 +24,7 @@ import javax.inject.Singleton;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.AbstractMap;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.HashSet;
-import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import org.apache.maven.RepositoryUtils;
@@ -72,7 +62,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.model.root.RootLocator;
 import org.apache.maven.repository.internal.ArtifactDescriptorUtils;
 import org.apache.maven.repository.internal.ModelCacheFactory;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.Os;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystem;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RequestTrace;
@@ -91,6 +80,7 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 @Named
 @Singleton
 public class DefaultProjectBuilder implements ProjectBuilder {
+
     private final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
     private final ModelBuilder modelBuilder;
     private final ModelProcessor modelProcessor;
@@ -739,7 +729,7 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder implements ProjectBuilder {
         if (extensions != null) {
             for (Extension ext : extensions) {
                 String version;
-                if (StringUtils.isEmpty(ext.getVersion())) {
+                if (ext.getVersion() == null || ext.getVersion().isEmpty()) {
                     version = "RELEASE";
                 } else {
                     version = ext.getVersion();
@@ -821,7 +811,10 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder implements ProjectBuilder {
                 && project.getDistributionManagement().getRepository() != null) {
             try {
                 DeploymentRepository r = project.getDistributionManagement().getRepository();
-                if (!StringUtils.isEmpty(r.getId()) && !StringUtils.isEmpty(r.getUrl())) {
+                if (r.getId() != null
+                        && !r.getId().isEmpty()
+                        && r.getUrl() != null
+                        && !r.getUrl().isEmpty()) {
                     ArtifactRepository repo = MavenRepositorySystem.buildArtifactRepository(r);
                     repositorySystem.injectProxy(projectBuildingRequest.getRepositorySession(), Arrays.asList(repo));
                     repositorySystem.injectAuthentication(
@@ -839,7 +832,10 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder implements ProjectBuilder {
                 && project.getDistributionManagement().getSnapshotRepository() != null) {
             try {
                 DeploymentRepository r = project.getDistributionManagement().getSnapshotRepository();
-                if (!StringUtils.isEmpty(r.getId()) && !StringUtils.isEmpty(r.getUrl())) {
+                if (r.getId() != null
+                        && !r.getId().isEmpty()
+                        && r.getUrl() != null
+                        && !r.getUrl().isEmpty()) {
                     ArtifactRepository repo = MavenRepositorySystem.buildArtifactRepository(r);
                     repositorySystem.injectProxy(projectBuildingRequest.getRepositorySession(), Arrays.asList(repo));
                     repositorySystem.injectAuthentication(
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver.java
index c192a81f8c..202fc4b37f 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver.java
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.artifact.Artifact;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Dependency;
 import org.apache.maven.model.DependencyManagement;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Exclusion;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.DefaultRepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystem;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositorySystemSession;
@@ -101,9 +100,12 @@ public class DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver implements ProjectDependenciesRe
 
         if (project.getDependencyArtifacts() == null) {
             for (Dependency dependency : project.getDependencies()) {
-                if (StringUtils.isEmpty(dependency.getGroupId())
-                        || StringUtils.isEmpty(dependency.getArtifactId())
-                        || StringUtils.isEmpty(dependency.getVersion())) {
+                if (dependency.getGroupId() == null
+                        || dependency.getGroupId().isEmpty()
+                        || dependency.getArtifactId() == null
+                        || dependency.getArtifactId().isEmpty()
+                        || dependency.getVersion() == null
+                        || dependency.getVersion().isEmpty()) {
                     // guard against case where best-effort resolution for invalid models is requested
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -224,7 +226,7 @@ public class DefaultProjectDependenciesResolver implements ProjectDependenciesRe
                 org.eclipse.aether.artifact.Artifact art = dep.getArtifact();
 
                 buffer.append(art);
-                if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(dep.getScope())) {
+                if (dep.getScope() != null && !dep.getScope().isEmpty()) {
                     buffer.append(':').append(dep.getScope());
                 }
 
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainFactory.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainFactory.java
index bea328cf8e..e9ddf15b5b 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainFactory.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainFactory.java
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ package org.apache.maven.toolchain.java;
 import javax.inject.Named;
 import javax.inject.Singleton;
 
-import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
@@ -31,7 +33,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.toolchain.RequirementMatcherFactory;
 import org.apache.maven.toolchain.ToolchainFactory;
 import org.apache.maven.toolchain.ToolchainPrivate;
 import org.apache.maven.toolchain.model.ToolchainModel;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.Xpp3Dom;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -86,12 +87,12 @@ public class JavaToolchainFactory implements ToolchainFactory {
             throw new MisconfiguredToolchainException(
                     "Java toolchain without the " + JavaToolchainImpl.KEY_JAVAHOME + " configuration element.");
         }
-        File normal = new File(FileUtils.normalize(javahome.getValue()));
-        if (normal.exists()) {
-            jtc.setJavaHome(FileUtils.normalize(javahome.getValue()));
+        Path normal = Paths.get(javahome.getValue()).normalize();
+        if (Files.exists(normal)) {
+            jtc.setJavaHome(Paths.get(javahome.getValue()).normalize().toString());
         } else {
             throw new MisconfiguredToolchainException(
-                    "Non-existing JDK home configuration at " + normal.getAbsolutePath());
+                    "Non-existing JDK home configuration at " + normal.toAbsolutePath());
         }
 
         return jtc;
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainImpl.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainImpl.java
index 30fb0e3522..ba7de5a5aa 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainImpl.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/toolchain/java/JavaToolchainImpl.java
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@
  */
 package org.apache.maven.toolchain.java;
 
-import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
 
 import org.apache.maven.toolchain.DefaultToolchain;
 import org.apache.maven.toolchain.model.ToolchainModel;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.Os;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 
@@ -53,25 +54,24 @@ public class JavaToolchainImpl extends DefaultToolchain implements JavaToolchain
     }
 
     public String findTool(String toolName) {
-        File toRet = findTool(toolName, new File(FileUtils.normalize(getJavaHome())));
+        Path toRet = findTool(toolName, Paths.get(getJavaHome()).normalize());
         if (toRet != null) {
-            return toRet.getAbsolutePath();
+            return toRet.toAbsolutePath().toString();
         }
         return null;
     }
 
-    private static File findTool(String toolName, File installDir) {
-        File bin = new File(installDir, "bin"); // NOI18N
-        if (bin.exists()) {
-            boolean isWindows = Os.isFamily("windows"); // NOI18N
-            if (isWindows) {
-                File tool = new File(bin, toolName + ".exe");
-                if (tool.exists()) {
+    private static Path findTool(String toolName, Path installDir) {
+        Path bin = installDir.resolve("bin"); // NOI18N
+        if (Files.isDirectory(bin)) {
+            if (Os.isFamily("windows")) { // NOI18N
+                Path tool = bin.resolve(toolName + ".exe");
+                if (Files.exists(tool)) {
                     return tool;
                 }
             }
-            File tool = new File(bin, toolName);
-            if (tool.exists()) {
+            Path tool = bin.resolve(toolName);
+            if (Files.exists(tool)) {
                 return tool;
             }
         }
diff --git a/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/PomConstructionWithSettingsTest.java b/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/PomConstructionWithSettingsTest.java
index aa9798c13f..f8630aa397 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/PomConstructionWithSettingsTest.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/PomConstructionWithSettingsTest.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package org.apache.maven.settings;
 
 import javax.inject.Inject;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -34,8 +35,7 @@ import org.apache.maven.project.harness.PomTestWrapper;
 import org.apache.maven.repository.internal.MavenRepositorySystemUtils;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.io.xpp3.SettingsXpp3Reader;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.testing.PlexusTest;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.XmlStreamReader;
 import org.eclipse.aether.DefaultRepositorySystemSession;
 import org.eclipse.aether.internal.impl.SimpleLocalRepositoryManagerFactory;
 import org.eclipse.aether.repository.LocalRepository;
@@ -120,10 +120,10 @@ class PomConstructionWithSettingsTest {
         return new PomTestWrapper(pomFile, projectBuilder.build(pomFile, config).getProject());
     }
 
-    private static Settings readSettingsFile(File settingsFile) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    private static Settings readSettingsFile(File settingsFile) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         Settings settings = null;
 
-        try (Reader reader = ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(settingsFile)) {
+        try (Reader reader = new XmlStreamReader(settingsFile)) {
             SettingsXpp3Reader modelReader = new SettingsXpp3Reader();
 
             settings = modelReader.read(reader);
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
index 99cf7dcf2c..7e2f96a136 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/MavenCli.java
@@ -107,7 +107,6 @@ import org.codehaus.plexus.interpolation.AbstractValueSource;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.interpolation.BasicInterpolator;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.interpolation.StringSearchInterpolator;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.logging.LoggerManager;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.DefaultRepositoryCache;
 import org.eclipse.aether.transfer.TransferListener;
 import org.slf4j.ILoggerFactory;
@@ -851,7 +850,7 @@ public class MavenCli {
         List<File> jars = new ArrayList<>();
 
         if (extClassPath != null && !extClassPath.isEmpty()) {
-            for (String jar : StringUtils.split(extClassPath, File.pathSeparator)) {
+            for (String jar : extClassPath.split(File.pathSeparator)) {
                 File file = resolveFile(new File(jar), cliRequest.workingDirectory);
 
                 slf4jLogger.debug("  included '{}'", file);
@@ -1051,7 +1050,7 @@ public class MavenCli {
             ExceptionSummary summary, Map<String, String> references, String indent, boolean showErrors) {
         String referenceKey = "";
 
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(summary.getReference())) {
+        if (summary.getReference() != null && !summary.getReference().isEmpty()) {
             referenceKey =
                     references.computeIfAbsent(summary.getReference(), k -> "[Help " + (references.size() + 1) + "]");
         }
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/event/ExecutionEventLogger.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/event/ExecutionEventLogger.java
index fc25ac2970..6474166d6e 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/event/ExecutionEventLogger.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/event/ExecutionEventLogger.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.logwrapper.MavenSlf4jWrapperFactory;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecution;
 import org.apache.maven.plugin.descriptor.MojoDescriptor;
 import org.apache.maven.project.MavenProject;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.slf4j.ILoggerFactory;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -436,9 +435,9 @@ public class ExecutionEventLogger extends AbstractExecutionListener {
 
     private void appendForkInfo(MessageBuilder buffer, MojoDescriptor md) {
         StringBuilder buff = new StringBuilder();
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(md.getExecutePhase())) {
+        if (md.getExecutePhase() != null && !md.getExecutePhase().isEmpty()) {
             // forked phase
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(md.getExecuteLifecycle())) {
+            if (md.getExecuteLifecycle() != null && !md.getExecuteLifecycle().isEmpty()) {
                 buff.append('[');
                 buff.append(md.getExecuteLifecycle());
                 buff.append(']');
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/logging/Slf4jConfigurationFactory.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/logging/Slf4jConfigurationFactory.java
index 9d78f85f24..2d65fe8ae8 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/logging/Slf4jConfigurationFactory.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/logging/Slf4jConfigurationFactory.java
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@
 package org.apache.maven.cli.logging;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.apache.maven.cli.logging.impl.UnsupportedSlf4jBindingConfiguration;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.PropertyUtils;
 import org.slf4j.ILoggerFactory;
 
 /**
@@ -47,8 +47,14 @@ public class Slf4jConfigurationFactory {
             while (resources.hasMoreElements()) {
                 URL resource = resources.nextElement();
                 try {
-                    Properties conf = PropertyUtils.loadProperties(resource.openStream());
-                    String impl = conf.getProperty(slf4jBinding);
+                    InputStream is = resource.openStream();
+                    final Properties properties = new Properties();
+                    if (is != null) {
+                        try (InputStream in = is) {
+                            properties.load(in);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    String impl = properties.getProperty(slf4jBinding);
                     if (impl != null) {
                         return (Slf4jConfiguration) Class.forName(impl).newInstance();
                     }
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/inheritance/DefaultInheritanceAssembler.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/inheritance/DefaultInheritanceAssembler.java
index a6785532c0..e165491094 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/inheritance/DefaultInheritanceAssembler.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/inheritance/DefaultInheritanceAssembler.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.api.model.Reporting;
 import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelBuildingRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelProblemCollector;
 import org.apache.maven.model.merge.MavenModelMerger;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * Handles inheritance of model values.
@@ -136,10 +135,17 @@ public class DefaultInheritanceAssembler implements InheritanceAssembler {
             Object childDirectory = context.get(CHILD_DIRECTORY);
             Object childPathAdjustment = context.get(CHILD_PATH_ADJUSTMENT);
 
-            if (StringUtils.isBlank(parentUrl)
-                    || childDirectory == null
-                    || childPathAdjustment == null
-                    || !appendPath) {
+            boolean isBlankParentUrl = true;
+
+            if (parentUrl != null) {
+                for (int i = 0; i < parentUrl.length(); i++) {
+                    if (!Character.isWhitespace(parentUrl.charAt(i))) {
+                        isBlankParentUrl = false;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (isBlankParentUrl || childDirectory == null || childPathAdjustment == null || !appendPath) {
                 return parentUrl;
             }
 
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/DefaultModelWriter.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/DefaultModelWriter.java
index d05d2bd260..22daa485d8 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/DefaultModelWriter.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/DefaultModelWriter.java
@@ -26,12 +26,13 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
 import java.io.Writer;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
 import org.apache.maven.api.model.Model;
 import org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3Writer;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.WriterFactory;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.XmlStreamWriter;
 
 /**
  * Handles serialization of a model into some kind of textual format like XML.
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ public class DefaultModelWriter implements ModelWriter {
 
         output.getParentFile().mkdirs();
 
-        write(WriterFactory.newXmlWriter(output), options, model);
+        write(new XmlStreamWriter(Files.newOutputStream(output.toPath())), options, model);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -67,7 +68,6 @@ public class DefaultModelWriter implements ModelWriter {
         Objects.requireNonNull(model, "model cannot be null");
 
         String encoding = model.getModelEncoding();
-        // TODO Use StringUtils here
         if (encoding == null || encoding.length() <= 0) {
             encoding = "UTF-8";
         }
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/merge/MavenModelMerger.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/merge/MavenModelMerger.java
index 5e58c2546d..9d226064de 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/merge/MavenModelMerger.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/merge/MavenModelMerger.java
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.api.model.RepositoryBase;
 import org.apache.maven.api.model.Scm;
 import org.apache.maven.api.model.Site;
 import org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenMerger;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * The domain-specific model merger for the Maven POM, overriding generic code from parent class when necessary with
@@ -453,9 +452,9 @@ public class MavenModelMerger extends MavenMerger {
             Site.Builder builder, Site target, Site source, boolean sourceDominant, Map<Object, Object> context) {}
 
     protected boolean isSiteEmpty(Site site) {
-        return StringUtils.isEmpty(site.getId())
-                && StringUtils.isEmpty(site.getName())
-                && StringUtils.isEmpty(site.getUrl());
+        return (site.getId() == null || site.getId().isEmpty())
+                && (site.getName() == null || site.getName().isEmpty())
+                && (site.getUrl() == null || site.getUrl().isEmpty());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/normalization/DefaultModelNormalizer.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/normalization/DefaultModelNormalizer.java
index 615937b5b8..3f79a79784 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/normalization/DefaultModelNormalizer.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/normalization/DefaultModelNormalizer.java
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.api.model.Plugin;
 import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelBuildingRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelProblemCollector;
 import org.apache.maven.model.merge.MavenModelMerger;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * Handles normalization of a model.
@@ -138,7 +137,7 @@ public class DefaultModelNormalizer implements ModelNormalizer {
 
     private Dependency injectDependency(Dependency d) {
         // we cannot set this directly in the MDO due to the interactions with dependency management
-        return StringUtils.isEmpty(d.getScope()) ? d.withScope("compile") : d;
+        return (d.getScope() == null || d.getScope().isEmpty()) ? d.withScope("compile") : d;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/activation/FileProfileActivator.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/activation/FileProfileActivator.java
index 32b578a8ff..0ce909b05e 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/activation/FileProfileActivator.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/profile/activation/FileProfileActivator.java
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelProblemCollectorRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.model.path.ProfileActivationFilePathInterpolator;
 import org.apache.maven.model.profile.ProfileActivationContext;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.interpolation.InterpolationException;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  * Determines profile activation based on the existence/absence of some file.
@@ -75,10 +74,10 @@ public class FileProfileActivator implements ProfileActivator {
         String path;
         boolean missing;
 
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(file.getExists())) {
+        if (file.getExists() != null && !file.getExists().isEmpty()) {
             path = file.getExists();
             missing = false;
-        } else if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(file.getMissing())) {
+        } else if (file.getMissing() != null && !file.getMissing().isEmpty()) {
             path = file.getMissing();
             missing = true;
         } else {
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/validation/DefaultModelValidator.java b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/validation/DefaultModelValidator.java
index 39d76a6bbc..83e22deb0f 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/validation/DefaultModelValidator.java
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/validation/DefaultModelValidator.java
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelProblemCollector;
 import org.apache.maven.model.building.ModelProblemCollectorRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.model.interpolation.ModelVersionProcessor;
 import org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenModelVersion;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
  */
@@ -301,10 +300,10 @@ public class DefaultModelValidator implements ModelValidator {
             String path;
             boolean missing;
 
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(file.getExists())) {
+            if (file.getExists() != null && !file.getExists().isEmpty()) {
                 path = file.getExists();
                 missing = false;
-            } else if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(file.getMissing())) {
+            } else if (file.getMissing() != null && !file.getMissing().isEmpty()) {
                 path = file.getMissing();
                 missing = true;
             } else {
@@ -446,7 +445,17 @@ public class DefaultModelValidator implements ModelValidator {
 
             for (int i = 0, n = m.getModules().size(); i < n; i++) {
                 String module = m.getModules().get(i);
-                if (StringUtils.isBlank(module)) {
+
+                boolean isBlankModule = true;
+                if (module != null) {
+                    for (int j = 0; j < module.length(); j++) {
+                        if (!Character.isWhitespace(module.charAt(j))) {
+                            isBlankModule = false;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if (isBlankModule) {
                     addViolation(
                             problems,
                             Severity.ERROR,
@@ -600,7 +609,8 @@ public class DefaultModelValidator implements ModelValidator {
                             key,
                             "must be 'pom' to import the managed dependencies.",
                             dependency);
-                } else if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(dependency.getClassifier())) {
+                } else if (dependency.getClassifier() != null
+                        && !dependency.getClassifier().isEmpty()) {
                     addViolation(
                             problems,
                             errOn30,
@@ -893,7 +903,7 @@ public class DefaultModelValidator implements ModelValidator {
                             d);
                 }
             }
-        } else if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(d.getSystemPath())) {
+        } else if (d.getSystemPath() != null && !d.getSystemPath().isEmpty()) {
             addViolation(
                     problems,
                     Severity.ERROR,
@@ -1547,8 +1557,8 @@ public class DefaultModelValidator implements ModelValidator {
      */
     private static int compareModelVersions(String first, String second) {
         // we use a dedicated comparator because we control our model version scheme.
-        String[] firstSegments = StringUtils.split(first, ".");
-        String[] secondSegments = StringUtils.split(second, ".");
+        String[] firstSegments = first.split("\\.");
+        String[] secondSegments = second.split("\\.");
         for (int i = 0; i < Math.max(firstSegments.length, secondSegments.length); i++) {
             int result = Long.valueOf(i < firstSegments.length ? firstSegments[i] : "0")
                     .compareTo(Long.valueOf(i < secondSegments.length ? secondSegments[i] : "0"));
@@ -1735,7 +1745,9 @@ public class DefaultModelValidator implements ModelValidator {
     }
 
     private static boolean equals(String s1, String s2) {
-        return StringUtils.clean(s1).equals(StringUtils.clean(s2));
+        String c1 = s1 == null ? "" : s1.trim();
+        String c2 = s2 == null ? "" : s2.trim();
+        return c1.equals(c2);
     }
 
     private static Severity getSeverity(ModelBuildingRequest request, int errorThreshold) {
diff --git a/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3Reader.java b/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3Reader.java
index c469ebd22e..0a79b670da 100644
--- a/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3Reader.java
+++ b/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3Reader.java
@@ -18,16 +18,16 @@
  */
 package org.apache.maven.model.io.xpp3;
 
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamReader;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.Reader;
 
 import org.apache.maven.model.Model;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
 
 public class MavenXpp3Reader {
     private boolean addDefaultEntities = true;
@@ -52,32 +52,35 @@ public class MavenXpp3Reader {
     } // -- boolean getAddDefaultEntities()
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Model
      */
-    public Model read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser =
-                addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(reader);
+    public Model read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = null;
+        try {
+            parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
         return read(parser, strict);
     } // -- Model read( Reader, boolean )
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Model
      */
-    public Model read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Model read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         return read(reader, true);
     } // -- Model read( Reader )
 
@@ -87,12 +90,16 @@ public class MavenXpp3Reader {
      * @param in a in object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Model
      */
-    public Model read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in), strict);
+    public Model read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser, strict);
     } // -- Model read( InputStream, boolean )
 
     /**
@@ -100,12 +107,16 @@ public class MavenXpp3Reader {
      *
      * @param in a in object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Model
      */
-    public Model read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in));
+    public Model read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser, true);
     } // -- Model read( InputStream )
 
     /**
@@ -114,11 +125,11 @@ public class MavenXpp3Reader {
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Model
      */
-    public Model read(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Model read(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3Reader reader = contentTransformer != null
                 ? new org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3Reader(contentTransformer::transform)
                 : new org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3Reader();
diff --git a/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3ReaderEx.java b/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3ReaderEx.java
index ab557eb1fb..8a26f54b74 100644
--- a/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3ReaderEx.java
+++ b/maven-model/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/io/xpp3/MavenXpp3ReaderEx.java
@@ -18,16 +18,17 @@
  */
 package org.apache.maven.model.io.xpp3;
 
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamReader;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.Reader;
 
 import org.apache.maven.model.InputSource;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Model;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
 
 public class MavenXpp3ReaderEx {
     private boolean addDefaultEntities = true;
@@ -52,73 +53,73 @@ public class MavenXpp3ReaderEx {
     } // -- boolean getAddDefaultEntities()
 
     /**
-     * @param reader a reader object.
-     * @param strict a strict object.
-     * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
-     * any.
+     * @param reader a reader object
+     * @param strict a strict object
      * @return Model
+     * @throws IOException            IOException if an I/O error occurs while reading from the underlying source
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if an error occurs while parser xml
      */
-    public Model read(Reader reader, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser =
-                addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(reader);
-        return read(parser, strict, source);
+    public Model read(Reader reader, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        try {
+            XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+            return read(parser, strict, source);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
     } // -- Model read( Reader, boolean )
 
     /**
-     * @param reader a reader object.
-     * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
-     * any.
+     * @param reader a reader object
      * @return Model
+     * @throws IOException            IOException if an I/O error occurs while reading from the underlying source
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if an error occurs while parser xml
      */
-    public Model read(Reader reader, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Model read(Reader reader, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         return read(reader, true, source);
     } // -- Model read( Reader )
 
     /**
      * Method read.
      *
-     * @param in a in object.
-     * @param strict a strict object.
-     * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
-     * any.
+     * @param in     a in object
+     * @param strict a strict object
      * @return Model
+     * @throws IOException            IOException if an I/O error occurs while reading from the underlying source
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if an error occurs while parser xml
      */
-    public Model read(InputStream in, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser =
-                addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(in, null);
+    public Model read(InputStream in, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
         return read(parser, strict, source);
     } // -- Model read( InputStream, boolean )
 
     /**
      * Method read.
      *
-     * @param in a in object.
-     * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
-     * any.
+     * @param in a in object
      * @return Model
+     * @throws IOException            IOException if an I/O error occurs while reading from the underlying source
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if an error occurs while parser xml
      */
-    public Model read(InputStream in, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Model read(InputStream in, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         return read(in, true, source);
     } // -- Model read( InputStream )
 
     /**
      * Method read.
      *
-     * @param parser a parser object.
-     * @param strict a strict object.
-     * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
-     * any.
+     * @param parser a parser object
+     * @param strict a strict object
      * @return Model
+     * @throws IOException            IOException if an I/O error occurs while reading from the underlying source
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if an error occurs while parser xml
      */
-    public Model read(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict, InputSource source)
-            throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Model read(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict, InputSource source)
+            throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3ReaderEx reader = contentTransformer != null
                 ? new org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3ReaderEx(contentTransformer::transform)
                 : new org.apache.maven.model.v4.MavenXpp3ReaderEx();
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ public class MavenXpp3ReaderEx {
     /**
      * Sets the state of the "add default entities" flag.
      *
-     * @param addDefaultEntities a addDefaultEntities object.
+     * @param addDefaultEntities a addDefaultEntities object
      */
     public void setAddDefaultEntities(boolean addDefaultEntities) {
         this.addDefaultEntities = addDefaultEntities;
@@ -140,10 +141,11 @@ public class MavenXpp3ReaderEx {
     public interface ContentTransformer {
         /**
          * Interpolate the value read from the xpp3 document
-         * @param source The source value
-         * @param fieldName A description of the field being interpolated. The implementation may use this to
-         *                           log stuff.
-         * @return The interpolated value.
+         *
+         * @param source    the source value
+         * @param fieldName a description of the field being interpolated. The implementation may use this to
+         *                  log stuff
+         * @return the interpolated value
          */
         String transform(String source, String fieldName);
     }
diff --git a/maven-model/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/model/v4/Xpp3DomPerfTest.java b/maven-model/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/model/v4/Xpp3DomPerfTest.java
index 52f5a2309b..0ea2fd5815 100644
--- a/maven-model/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/model/v4/Xpp3DomPerfTest.java
+++ b/maven-model/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/model/v4/Xpp3DomPerfTest.java
@@ -18,22 +18,6 @@
  */
 package org.apache.maven.model.v4;
 
-/*
- * Copyright The Codehaus Foundation.
- *
- * Licensed 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
- *
- * 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.
- */
-
 import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -46,7 +30,6 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import org.apache.maven.api.model.InputSource;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
 import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.*;
 import org.openjdk.jmh.runner.Runner;
 import org.openjdk.jmh.runner.RunnerException;
@@ -75,13 +58,13 @@ public class Xpp3DomPerfTest {
     }
 
     @Benchmark
-    public int readWithXpp3(AdditionState state) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public int readWithXpp3(AdditionState state) throws IOException {
         int i = 0;
         for (Path pom : state.poms) {
             try (InputStream is = Files.newInputStream(pom)) {
                 new MavenXpp3ReaderEx().read(is, true, new InputSource("id", pom.toString()));
                 i++;
-            } catch (XmlPullParserException e) {
+            } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
                 throw new RuntimeException("Error parsing: " + pom, e);
             }
         }
diff --git a/maven-plugin-api/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/descriptor/PluginDescriptorBuilderTest.java b/maven-plugin-api/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/descriptor/PluginDescriptorBuilderTest.java
index 265b106e37..cf06250f88 100644
--- a/maven-plugin-api/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/descriptor/PluginDescriptorBuilderTest.java
+++ b/maven-plugin-api/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/descriptor/PluginDescriptorBuilderTest.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.ComponentDependency;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.ComponentRequirement;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.PlexusConfiguration;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.configuration.PlexusConfigurationException;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.XmlStreamReader;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 class PluginDescriptorBuilderTest {
 
     private PluginDescriptor build(String resource) throws IOException, PlexusConfigurationException {
-        Reader reader = ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(getClass().getResourceAsStream(resource));
+        Reader reader = new XmlStreamReader(getClass().getResourceAsStream(resource));
 
         return new PluginDescriptorBuilder().build(reader);
     }
diff --git a/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/DefaultVersionResolver.java b/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/DefaultVersionResolver.java
index 0b0b46c010..4b54afc8bd 100644
--- a/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/DefaultVersionResolver.java
+++ b/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/DefaultVersionResolver.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.Snapshot;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.SnapshotVersion;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.Versioning;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.metadata.io.MetadataStaxReader;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositoryCache;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositoryEvent;
 import org.eclipse.aether.RepositoryEvent.EventType;
@@ -211,7 +210,7 @@ public class DefaultVersionResolver implements VersionResolver {
                 }
             }
 
-            if (StringUtils.isEmpty(result.getVersion())) {
+            if (result.getVersion() == null || result.getVersion().isEmpty()) {
                 throw new VersionResolutionException(result);
             }
         }
@@ -297,16 +296,16 @@ public class DefaultVersionResolver implements VersionResolver {
 
     private void merge(
             Artifact artifact, Map<String, VersionInfo> infos, Versioning versioning, ArtifactRepository repository) {
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(versioning.getRelease())) {
+        if (versioning.getRelease() != null && !versioning.getRelease().isEmpty()) {
             merge(RELEASE, infos, versioning.getLastUpdated(), versioning.getRelease(), repository);
         }
 
-        if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(versioning.getLatest())) {
+        if (versioning.getLatest() != null && !versioning.getLatest().isEmpty()) {
             merge(LATEST, infos, versioning.getLastUpdated(), versioning.getLatest(), repository);
         }
 
         for (SnapshotVersion sv : versioning.getSnapshotVersions()) {
-            if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(sv.getVersion())) {
+            if (sv.getVersion() != null && !sv.getVersion().isEmpty()) {
                 String key = getKey(sv.getClassifier(), sv.getExtension());
                 merge(SNAPSHOT + key, infos, sv.getUpdated(), sv.getVersion(), repository);
             }
@@ -353,7 +352,7 @@ public class DefaultVersionResolver implements VersionResolver {
     }
 
     private String getKey(String classifier, String extension) {
-        return StringUtils.clean(classifier) + ':' + StringUtils.clean(extension);
+        return (classifier == null ? "" : classifier.trim()) + ':' + (extension == null ? "" : extension.trim());
     }
 
     private ArtifactRepository getRepository(
diff --git a/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/RelocatedArtifact.java b/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/RelocatedArtifact.java
index 63cd0f6aaf..4f78f1a35e 100644
--- a/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/RelocatedArtifact.java
+++ b/maven-resolver-provider/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/repository/internal/RelocatedArtifact.java
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ public final class RelocatedArtifact extends AbstractArtifact {
 
     RelocatedArtifact(Artifact artifact, String groupId, String artifactId, String version, String message) {
         this.artifact = Objects.requireNonNull(artifact, "artifact cannot be null");
-        // TODO Use StringUtils here
         this.groupId = (groupId != null && groupId.length() > 0) ? groupId : null;
         this.artifactId = (artifactId != null && artifactId.length() > 0) ? artifactId : null;
         this.version = (version != null && version.length() > 0) ? version : null;
diff --git a/maven-settings/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/io/xpp3/SettingsXpp3Reader.java b/maven-settings/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/io/xpp3/SettingsXpp3Reader.java
index f0f9f24a1f..e6af95e32e 100644
--- a/maven-settings/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/io/xpp3/SettingsXpp3Reader.java
+++ b/maven-settings/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/io/xpp3/SettingsXpp3Reader.java
@@ -18,15 +18,16 @@
  */
 package org.apache.maven.settings.io.xpp3;
 
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamReader;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.Reader;
 
 import org.apache.maven.settings.Settings;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
 
 @Deprecated
 public class SettingsXpp3Reader {
@@ -55,25 +56,30 @@ public class SettingsXpp3Reader {
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Settings
      */
-    public Settings read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser =
-                addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(reader);
+    public Settings read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = null;
+        try {
+            parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
         return read(parser, strict);
     } // -- Model read( Reader, boolean )
 
     /**
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Model
      */
-    public Settings read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Settings read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         return read(reader, true);
     } // -- Model read( Reader )
 
@@ -83,14 +89,15 @@ public class SettingsXpp3Reader {
      * @param in a in object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Settings
      */
-    public Settings read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser =
-                addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(in, null);
+    public Settings read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
         return read(parser, strict);
     } // -- Model read( InputStream, boolean )
 
@@ -99,11 +106,11 @@ public class SettingsXpp3Reader {
      *
      * @param in a in object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Settings
      */
-    public Settings read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Settings read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         return read(in, true);
     } // -- Model read( InputStream )
 
@@ -113,18 +120,18 @@ public class SettingsXpp3Reader {
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Settings
      */
-    public Settings read(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public Settings read(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         org.apache.maven.settings.v4.SettingsXpp3Reader reader = contentTransformer != null
                 ? new org.apache.maven.settings.v4.SettingsXpp3Reader(contentTransformer::transform)
                 : new org.apache.maven.settings.v4.SettingsXpp3Reader();
         reader.setAddDefaultEntities(addDefaultEntities);
         org.apache.maven.api.settings.Settings settings = reader.read(parser, strict);
         return new Settings(settings);
-    } // -- Model read( XmlPullParser, boolean )
+    } // -- Model read( XMLStreamReader, boolean )
 
     /**
      * Sets the state of the "add default entities" flag.
diff --git a/src/mdo/reader-ex.vm b/src/mdo/reader-ex.vm
index 9858d2c9ec..81ad44e59a 100644
--- a/src/mdo/reader-ex.vm
+++ b/src/mdo/reader-ex.vm
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import org.apache.maven.api.annotations.Generated;
 import org.apache.maven.internal.xml.XmlNodeBuilder;
 import ${packageModelV4}.InputSource;
@@ -57,11 +58,10 @@ import ${packageModelV4}.InputLocation;
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
 import ${packageModelV4}.${class.name};
 #end
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamReader;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
 
 @Deprecated
 @Generated
@@ -71,6 +71,277 @@ public class ${className} {
 
     private final ContentTransformer contentTransformer;
 
+   /**
+    * XSI namespace
+    */
+    private static final String XSI_NAMESPACE = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";
+
+    private static final Map<String, String> DEFAULT_ENTITIES;
+    
+    static {
+        Map<String, String> entities = new HashMap<>();
+        entities.put("nbsp", "\u00a0");
+        entities.put("iexcl", "\u00a1");
+        entities.put("cent", "\u00a2");
+        entities.put("pound", "\u00a3");
+        entities.put("curren", "\u00a4");
+        entities.put("yen", "\u00a5");
+        entities.put("brvbar", "\u00a6");
+        entities.put("sect", "\u00a7");
+        entities.put("uml", "\u00a8");
+        entities.put("copy", "\u00a9");
+        entities.put("ordf", "\u00aa");
+        entities.put("laquo", "\u00ab");
+        entities.put("not", "\u00ac");
+        entities.put("shy", "\u00ad");
+        entities.put("reg", "\u00ae");
+        entities.put("macr", "\u00af");
+        entities.put("deg", "\u00b0");
+        entities.put("plusmn", "\u00b1");
+        entities.put("sup2", "\u00b2");
+        entities.put("sup3", "\u00b3");
+        entities.put("acute", "\u00b4");
+        entities.put("micro", "\u00b5");
+        entities.put("para", "\u00b6");
+        entities.put("middot", "\u00b7");
+        entities.put("cedil", "\u00b8");
+        entities.put("sup1", "\u00b9");
+        entities.put("ordm", "\u00ba");
+        entities.put("raquo", "\u00bb");
+        entities.put("frac14", "\u00bc");
+        entities.put("frac12", "\u00bd");
+        entities.put("frac34", "\u00be");
+        entities.put("iquest", "\u00bf");
+        entities.put("Agrave", "\u00c0");
+        entities.put("Aacute", "\u00c1");
+        entities.put("Acirc", "\u00c2");
+        entities.put("Atilde", "\u00c3");
+        entities.put("Auml", "\u00c4");
+        entities.put("Aring", "\u00c5");
+        entities.put("AElig", "\u00c6");
+        entities.put("Ccedil", "\u00c7");
+        entities.put("Egrave", "\u00c8");
+        entities.put("Eacute", "\u00c9");
+        entities.put("Ecirc", "\u00ca");
+        entities.put("Euml", "\u00cb");
+        entities.put("Igrave", "\u00cc");
+        entities.put("Iacute", "\u00cd");
+        entities.put("Icirc", "\u00ce");
+        entities.put("Iuml", "\u00cf");
+        entities.put("ETH", "\u00d0");
+        entities.put("Ntilde", "\u00d1");
+        entities.put("Ograve", "\u00d2");
+        entities.put("Oacute", "\u00d3");
+        entities.put("Ocirc", "\u00d4");
+        entities.put("Otilde", "\u00d5");
+        entities.put("Ouml", "\u00d6");
+        entities.put("times", "\u00d7");
+        entities.put("Oslash", "\u00d8");
+        entities.put("Ugrave", "\u00d9");
+        entities.put("Uacute", "\u00da");
+        entities.put("Ucirc", "\u00db");
+        entities.put("Uuml", "\u00dc");
+        entities.put("Yacute", "\u00dd");
+        entities.put("THORN", "\u00de");
+        entities.put("szlig", "\u00df");
+        entities.put("agrave", "\u00e0");
+        entities.put("aacute", "\u00e1");
+        entities.put("acirc", "\u00e2");
+        entities.put("atilde", "\u00e3");
+        entities.put("auml", "\u00e4");
+        entities.put("aring", "\u00e5");
+        entities.put("aelig", "\u00e6");
+        entities.put("ccedil", "\u00e7");
+        entities.put("egrave", "\u00e8");
+        entities.put("eacute", "\u00e9");
+        entities.put("ecirc", "\u00ea");
+        entities.put("euml", "\u00eb");
+        entities.put("igrave", "\u00ec");
+        entities.put("iacute", "\u00ed");
+        entities.put("icirc", "\u00ee");
+        entities.put("iuml", "\u00ef");
+        entities.put("eth", "\u00f0");
+        entities.put("ntilde", "\u00f1");
+        entities.put("ograve", "\u00f2");
+        entities.put("oacute", "\u00f3");
+        entities.put("ocirc", "\u00f4");
+        entities.put("otilde", "\u00f5");
+        entities.put("ouml", "\u00f6");
+        entities.put("divide", "\u00f7");
+        entities.put("oslash", "\u00f8");
+        entities.put("ugrave", "\u00f9");
+        entities.put("uacute", "\u00fa");
+        entities.put("ucirc", "\u00fb");
+        entities.put("uuml", "\u00fc");
+        entities.put("yacute", "\u00fd");
+        entities.put("thorn", "\u00fe");
+        entities.put("yuml", "\u00ff");
+
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Special entities
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        entities.put("OElig", "\u0152");
+        entities.put("oelig", "\u0153");
+        entities.put("Scaron", "\u0160");
+        entities.put("scaron", "\u0161");
+        entities.put("Yuml", "\u0178");
+        entities.put("circ", "\u02c6");
+        entities.put("tilde", "\u02dc");
+        entities.put("ensp", "\u2002");
+        entities.put("emsp", "\u2003");
+        entities.put("thinsp", "\u2009");
+        entities.put("zwnj", "\u200c");
+        entities.put("zwj", "\u200d");
+        entities.put("lrm", "\u200e");
+        entities.put("rlm", "\u200f");
+        entities.put("ndash", "\u2013");
+        entities.put("mdash", "\u2014");
+        entities.put("lsquo", "\u2018");
+        entities.put("rsquo", "\u2019");
+        entities.put("sbquo", "\u201a");
+        entities.put("ldquo", "\u201c");
+        entities.put("rdquo", "\u201d");
+        entities.put("bdquo", "\u201e");
+        entities.put("dagger", "\u2020");
+        entities.put("Dagger", "\u2021");
+        entities.put("permil", "\u2030");
+        entities.put("lsaquo", "\u2039");
+        entities.put("rsaquo", "\u203a");
+        entities.put("euro", "\u20ac");
+
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Symbol entities
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        entities.put("fnof", "\u0192");
+        entities.put("Alpha", "\u0391");
+        entities.put("Beta", "\u0392");
+        entities.put("Gamma", "\u0393");
+        entities.put("Delta", "\u0394");
+        entities.put("Epsilon", "\u0395");
+        entities.put("Zeta", "\u0396");
+        entities.put("Eta", "\u0397");
+        entities.put("Theta", "\u0398");
+        entities.put("Iota", "\u0399");
+        entities.put("Kappa", "\u039a");
+        entities.put("Lambda", "\u039b");
+        entities.put("Mu", "\u039c");
+        entities.put("Nu", "\u039d");
+        entities.put("Xi", "\u039e");
+        entities.put("Omicron", "\u039f");
+        entities.put("Pi", "\u03a0");
+        entities.put("Rho", "\u03a1");
+        entities.put("Sigma", "\u03a3");
+        entities.put("Tau", "\u03a4");
+        entities.put("Upsilon", "\u03a5");
+        entities.put("Phi", "\u03a6");
+        entities.put("Chi", "\u03a7");
+        entities.put("Psi", "\u03a8");
+        entities.put("Omega", "\u03a9");
+        entities.put("alpha", "\u03b1");
+        entities.put("beta", "\u03b2");
+        entities.put("gamma", "\u03b3");
+        entities.put("delta", "\u03b4");
+        entities.put("epsilon", "\u03b5");
+        entities.put("zeta", "\u03b6");
+        entities.put("eta", "\u03b7");
+        entities.put("theta", "\u03b8");
+        entities.put("iota", "\u03b9");
+        entities.put("kappa", "\u03ba");
+        entities.put("lambda", "\u03bb");
+        entities.put("mu", "\u03bc");
+        entities.put("nu", "\u03bd");
+        entities.put("xi", "\u03be");
+        entities.put("omicron", "\u03bf");
+        entities.put("pi", "\u03c0");
+        entities.put("rho", "\u03c1");
+        entities.put("sigmaf", "\u03c2");
+        entities.put("sigma", "\u03c3");
+        entities.put("tau", "\u03c4");
+        entities.put("upsilon", "\u03c5");
+        entities.put("phi", "\u03c6");
+        entities.put("chi", "\u03c7");
+        entities.put("psi", "\u03c8");
+        entities.put("omega", "\u03c9");
+        entities.put("thetasym", "\u03d1");
+        entities.put("upsih", "\u03d2");
+        entities.put("piv", "\u03d6");
+        entities.put("bull", "\u2022");
+        entities.put("hellip", "\u2026");
+        entities.put("prime", "\u2032");
+        entities.put("Prime", "\u2033");
+        entities.put("oline", "\u203e");
+        entities.put("frasl", "\u2044");
+        entities.put("weierp", "\u2118");
+        entities.put("image", "\u2111");
+        entities.put("real", "\u211c");
+        entities.put("trade", "\u2122");
+        entities.put("alefsym", "\u2135");
+        entities.put("larr", "\u2190");
+        entities.put("uarr", "\u2191");
+        entities.put("rarr", "\u2192");
+        entities.put("darr", "\u2193");
+        entities.put("harr", "\u2194");
+        entities.put("crarr", "\u21b5");
+        entities.put("lArr", "\u21d0");
+        entities.put("uArr", "\u21d1");
+        entities.put("rArr", "\u21d2");
+        entities.put("dArr", "\u21d3");
+        entities.put("hArr", "\u21d4");
+        entities.put("forall", "\u2200");
+        entities.put("part", "\u2202");
+        entities.put("exist", "\u2203");
+        entities.put("empty", "\u2205");
+        entities.put("nabla", "\u2207");
+        entities.put("isin", "\u2208");
+        entities.put("notin", "\u2209");
+        entities.put("ni", "\u220b");
+        entities.put("prod", "\u220f");
+        entities.put("sum", "\u2211");
+        entities.put("minus", "\u2212");
+        entities.put("lowast", "\u2217");
+        entities.put("radic", "\u221a");
+        entities.put("prop", "\u221d");
+        entities.put("infin", "\u221e");
+        entities.put("ang", "\u2220");
+        entities.put("and", "\u2227");
+        entities.put("or", "\u2228");
+        entities.put("cap", "\u2229");
+        entities.put("cup", "\u222a");
+        entities.put("int", "\u222b");
+        entities.put("there4", "\u2234");
+        entities.put("sim", "\u223c");
+        entities.put("cong", "\u2245");
+        entities.put("asymp", "\u2248");
+        entities.put("ne", "\u2260");
+        entities.put("equiv", "\u2261");
+        entities.put("le", "\u2264");
+        entities.put("ge", "\u2265");
+        entities.put("sub", "\u2282");
+        entities.put("sup", "\u2283");
+        entities.put("nsub", "\u2284");
+        entities.put("sube", "\u2286");
+        entities.put("supe", "\u2287");
+        entities.put("oplus", "\u2295");
+        entities.put("otimes", "\u2297");
+        entities.put("perp", "\u22a5");
+        entities.put("sdot", "\u22c5");
+        entities.put("lceil", "\u2308");
+        entities.put("rceil", "\u2309");
+        entities.put("lfloor", "\u230a");
+        entities.put("rfloor", "\u230b");
+        entities.put("lang", "\u2329");
+        entities.put("rang", "\u232a");
+        entities.put("loz", "\u25ca");
+        entities.put("spades", "\u2660");
+        entities.put("clubs", "\u2663");
+        entities.put("hearts", "\u2665");
+        entities.put("diams", "\u2666");
+        DEFAULT_ENTITIES = Collections.unmodifiableMap(entities);
+    }
+
+
     public ${className}() {
         this((s, f) -> s);
     }
@@ -98,18 +369,23 @@ public class ${className} {
     } //-- void setAddDefaultEntities(boolean)
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser = addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(reader);
+    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = null;
+        try {
+            parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
         return read(parser, strict, source);
     } //-- ${root.name} read(Reader, boolean)
 
@@ -119,12 +395,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param in a in object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in), strict, source);
+    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser, strict, source);
     } //-- ${root.name} read(InputStream, boolean)
 
     /**
@@ -133,21 +413,21 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public ${root.name} read(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         $rootUcapName $rootLcapName = null;
         int eventType = parser.getEventType();
         boolean parsed = false;
-        while (eventType != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT) {
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+        while (eventType != XMLStreamReader.END_DOCUMENT) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
                 if (strict && ! "${rootTag}".equals(parser.getName())) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser, null);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found '" + parser.getLocalName() + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 } else if (parsed) {
-                    // fallback, already expected a XmlPullParserException due to invalid XML
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '${rootTag}'", parser, null);
+                    // fallback, already expected a XMLStreamException due to invalid XML
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '${rootTag}'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 }
                 $rootLcapName = parse${rootUcapName}(parser, strict, source);
                 parsed = true;
@@ -157,8 +437,8 @@ public class ${className} {
         if (parsed) {
             return $rootLcapName;
         }
-        throw new XmlPullParserException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found no element at all: invalid XML document", parser, null);
-    } //-- ${root.name} read(XmlPullParser, boolean)
+        throw new XMLStreamException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found no element at all: invalid XML document", parser.getLocation(), null);
+    } //-- ${root.name} read(XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
  #if ( $class.name != "InputSource" && $class.name != "InputLocation" )
@@ -166,14 +446,14 @@ public class ${className} {
   #set ( $classLcapName = $Helper.uncapitalise( $class.name ) )
   #set ( $ancestors = $Helper.ancestors( $class ) )
   #set ( $allFields = $Helper.xmlFields( $class ) )
-    private ${classUcapName} parse${classUcapName}(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        String tagName = parser.getName();
+    private ${classUcapName} parse${classUcapName}(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict, InputSource source) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        String tagName = parser.getLocalName();
         ${classUcapName}.Builder ${classLcapName} = ${classUcapName}.newBuilder(true);
-        ${classLcapName}.location("", new InputLocation(parser.getLineNumber(), parser.getColumnNumber(), source));
+        ${classLcapName}.location("", new InputLocation(parser.getLocation().getLineNumber(), parser.getLocation().getColumnNumber(), source));
         for (int i = parser.getAttributeCount() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-            String name = parser.getAttributeName(i);
-            String value = parser.getAttributeValue(i);
-            if (name.indexOf(':') >= 0) {
+            String name = parser.getAttributeLocalName(i);
+            String value = parser.getAttributeNamespace(i);
+            if (XSI_NAMESPACE.equals(value)) {
                 // just ignore attributes with non-default namespace (for example: xmlns:xsi)
   #if ( $class == $root )
             } else if ("xmlns".equals(name)) {
@@ -184,7 +464,7 @@ public class ${className} {
       #set ( $fieldTagName = $Helper.xmlFieldMetadata( $field ).tagName )
       #set ( $fieldCapName = $Helper.capitalise( $field.name ) )
             } else if ("$fieldTagName".equals(name)) {
-                ${classLcapName}.location(name, new InputLocation(parser.getLineNumber(), parser.getColumnNumber(), source));
+                ${classLcapName}.location(name, new InputLocation(parser.getLocation().getLineNumber(), parser.getLocation().getColumnNumber(), source));
       #if ( $field.type == "String" )
                 ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(value, "$fieldTagName"));
       #elseif ( $field.type == "boolean" || $field.type == "Boolean" )
@@ -199,13 +479,13 @@ public class ${className} {
             }
         }
         Set<String> parsed = new HashSet<>();
-        while ((strict ? parser.nextTag() : nextTag(parser)) == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-            String childName = unalias(parser.getName());
+        while ((strict ? parser.nextTag() : nextTag(parser)) == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+            String childName = unalias(parser.getLocalName());
             if (!parsed.add(childName)) {
-                throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '" + childName + "'", parser, null);
+                throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '" + childName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
             }
-            int line = parser.getLineNumber();
-            int column = parser.getColumnNumber();
+            int line = parser.getLocation().getLineNumber();
+            int column = parser.getLocation().getColumnNumber();
             Map<Object, InputLocation> locations = null;
             switch (childName) {
   #set( $ift = "if" )
@@ -218,24 +498,24 @@ public class ${className} {
       #set ( $fieldCapName = $Helper.capitalise($field.name))
                 case "${fieldTagName}": {
       #if ( $field.type == "String" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "boolean" || $field.type == "Boolean" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getBooleanValue(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, ${field.defaultValue}));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getBooleanValue(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, ${field.defaultValue}));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "int" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getIntegerValue(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, strict, ${field.defaultValue}));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getIntegerValue(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, strict, ${field.defaultValue}));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "DOM" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(XmlNodeBuilder.build(parser, true));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(XmlNodeBuilder.build(parser));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "java.util.List" && $field.to == "String" && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     List<String> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
                     locations = new HashMap<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
                         if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getName())) {
-                            locations.put(Integer.valueOf(locations.size()), new InputLocation(parser.getLineNumber(), parser.getColumnNumber(), source));
-                            ${field.name}.add(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"));
+                            locations.put(Integer.valueOf(locations.size()), new InputLocation(parser.getLocation().getLineNumber(), parser.getLocation().getColumnNumber(), source));
+                            ${field.name}.add(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"));
                         } else {
                             checkUnknownElement(parser, strict);
                         }
@@ -245,10 +525,10 @@ public class ${className} {
       #elseif ( $field.type == "java.util.Properties" && $field.to == "String" && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     Map<String, String> ${field.name} = new LinkedHashMap<>();
                     locations = new HashMap<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        String key = parser.getName();
-                        String value = parser.nextText().trim();
-                        locations.put(key, new InputLocation(parser.getLineNumber(), parser.getColumnNumber(), source));
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        String key = parser.getLocalName();
+                        String value = nextText(parser, strict).trim();
+                        locations.put(key, new InputLocation(parser.getLocation().getLineNumber(), parser.getLocation().getColumnNumber(), source));
                         ${field.name}.put(key, value);
                     }
                     ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(${field.name});
@@ -258,7 +538,7 @@ public class ${className} {
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.to && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     List<$field.to> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
                         if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getName())) {
                             ${field.name}.add(parse${field.toClass.name}(parser, strict, source));
                         } else {
@@ -283,7 +563,7 @@ public class ${className} {
             ${classLcapName}.location(childName, new InputLocation(line, column, source, locations));
         }
   #if ( $class == $root )
-        ${classLcapName}.modelEncoding(parser.getInputEncoding());
+        ${classLcapName}.modelEncoding(parser.getEncoding());
   #end
         return ${classLcapName}.build();
     }
@@ -317,40 +597,40 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param tagName a tagName object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
      */
-    private void checkUnknownAttribute(XmlPullParser parser, String attribute, String tagName, boolean strict) throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+    private void checkUnknownAttribute(XMLStreamReader parser, String attribute, String tagName, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException, IOException {
         // strictXmlAttributes = true for model: if strict == true, not only elements are checked but attributes too
         if (strict) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Unknown attribute '" + attribute + "' for tag '" + tagName + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Unknown attribute '" + attribute + "' for tag '" + tagName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
-    } //-- void checkUnknownAttribute(XmlPullParser, String, String, boolean)
+    } //-- void checkUnknownAttribute(XMLStreamReader, String, String, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method checkUnknownElement.
      *
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
      */
-    private void checkUnknownElement(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+    private void checkUnknownElement(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException, IOException {
         if (strict) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Unrecognised tag: '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Unrecognised tag: '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
 
         for (int unrecognizedTagCount = 1; unrecognizedTagCount > 0;) {
             int eventType = parser.next();
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
                 unrecognizedTagCount++;
-            } else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+            } else if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT) {
                 unrecognizedTagCount--;
             }
         }
-    } //-- void checkUnknownElement(XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- void checkUnknownElement(XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getTrimmedValue.
@@ -381,20 +661,26 @@ public class ${className} {
      *
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int nextTag(XmlPullParser parser) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        int eventType = parser.next();
-        if (eventType == XmlPullParser.TEXT) {
-            eventType = parser.next();
+    private int nextTag(XMLStreamReader parser) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        while (true) {
+            int next = parser.next();
+            switch (next) {
+                case XMLStreamReader.SPACE:
+                case XMLStreamReader.COMMENT:
+                case XMLStreamReader.PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION:
+                case XMLStreamReader.CDATA:
+                case XMLStreamReader.CHARACTERS:
+                    continue;
+                case XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT:
+                case XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT:
+                    return next;
+            }
         }
-        if (eventType != XmlPullParser.START_TAG && eventType != XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("expected START_TAG or END_TAG not " + XmlPullParser.TYPES[eventType], parser, null);
-        }
-        return eventType;
-    } //-- int nextTag(XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- int nextTag(XMLStreamReader)
 
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
   #foreach ( $field in $class.getFields($version) )
@@ -413,16 +699,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param defaultValue a defaultValue object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return boolean
      */
-    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean defaultValue) throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean defaultValue) throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null && s.length() != 0) {
             return Boolean.valueOf(s).booleanValue();
         }
         return defaultValue;
-    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, String)
+    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, String)
 
 #end
 #if ( $hasIntegerField )
@@ -433,22 +719,22 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict, int defaultValue) throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict, int defaultValue) throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Integer.valueOf(s).intValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be an integer", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be an integer", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return defaultValue;
-    } //-- int getIntegerValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- int getIntegerValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
 #end
     public static interface ContentTransformer {
@@ -462,4 +748,38 @@ public class ${className} {
         String transform(String source, String fieldName);
     }
 
+    private String nextText(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException {
+        int eventType = parser.getEventType();
+        if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+            throw new XMLStreamException("parser must be on START_ELEMENT to read next text", parser.getLocation(), null);
+        }
+        eventType = parser.next();
+        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
+        while (true) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.CHARACTERS || eventType == XMLStreamReader.CDATA) {
+                result.append(parser.getText());
+            } else if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.ENTITY_REFERENCE) {
+                String val = null;
+                if (strict) {
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Entities are not supported in strict mode", parser.getLocation(), null);
+                } else if (addDefaultEntities) {
+                    val = DEFAULT_ENTITIES.get(parser.getLocalName());
+                }
+                if (val != null) {
+                    result.append(val);
+                } else {
+                    result.append("&").append(parser.getLocalName()).append(";");
+                }
+            } else if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.COMMENT) {
+                break;
+            }
+            eventType = parser.next();
+        }
+        if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT) {
+            throw new XMLStreamException(
+                    "TEXT must be immediately followed by END_ELEMENT and not " + eventType /*TODO: TYPES[eventType]*/, parser.getLocation(), null);
+        }
+        return result.toString();
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/mdo/reader-modified.vm b/src/mdo/reader-modified.vm
index 9234b47de7..06b82f3bab 100644
--- a/src/mdo/reader-modified.vm
+++ b/src/mdo/reader-modified.vm
@@ -50,16 +50,16 @@ import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import org.apache.maven.api.annotations.Generated;
 import org.apache.maven.internal.xml.XmlNodeBuilder;
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
 import ${packageModelV4}.${class.name};
 #end
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamReader;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
 
 @Deprecated
 @Generated
@@ -69,6 +69,277 @@ public class ${className} {
 
     private final ContentTransformer contentTransformer;
 
+       /**
+    * XSI namespace
+    */
+    private static final String XSI_NAMESPACE = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";
+
+    private static final Map<String, String> DEFAULT_ENTITIES;
+    
+    static {
+        Map<String, String> entities = new HashMap<>();
+        entities.put("nbsp", "\u00a0");
+        entities.put("iexcl", "\u00a1");
+        entities.put("cent", "\u00a2");
+        entities.put("pound", "\u00a3");
+        entities.put("curren", "\u00a4");
+        entities.put("yen", "\u00a5");
+        entities.put("brvbar", "\u00a6");
+        entities.put("sect", "\u00a7");
+        entities.put("uml", "\u00a8");
+        entities.put("copy", "\u00a9");
+        entities.put("ordf", "\u00aa");
+        entities.put("laquo", "\u00ab");
+        entities.put("not", "\u00ac");
+        entities.put("shy", "\u00ad");
+        entities.put("reg", "\u00ae");
+        entities.put("macr", "\u00af");
+        entities.put("deg", "\u00b0");
+        entities.put("plusmn", "\u00b1");
+        entities.put("sup2", "\u00b2");
+        entities.put("sup3", "\u00b3");
+        entities.put("acute", "\u00b4");
+        entities.put("micro", "\u00b5");
+        entities.put("para", "\u00b6");
+        entities.put("middot", "\u00b7");
+        entities.put("cedil", "\u00b8");
+        entities.put("sup1", "\u00b9");
+        entities.put("ordm", "\u00ba");
+        entities.put("raquo", "\u00bb");
+        entities.put("frac14", "\u00bc");
+        entities.put("frac12", "\u00bd");
+        entities.put("frac34", "\u00be");
+        entities.put("iquest", "\u00bf");
+        entities.put("Agrave", "\u00c0");
+        entities.put("Aacute", "\u00c1");
+        entities.put("Acirc", "\u00c2");
+        entities.put("Atilde", "\u00c3");
+        entities.put("Auml", "\u00c4");
+        entities.put("Aring", "\u00c5");
+        entities.put("AElig", "\u00c6");
+        entities.put("Ccedil", "\u00c7");
+        entities.put("Egrave", "\u00c8");
+        entities.put("Eacute", "\u00c9");
+        entities.put("Ecirc", "\u00ca");
+        entities.put("Euml", "\u00cb");
+        entities.put("Igrave", "\u00cc");
+        entities.put("Iacute", "\u00cd");
+        entities.put("Icirc", "\u00ce");
+        entities.put("Iuml", "\u00cf");
+        entities.put("ETH", "\u00d0");
+        entities.put("Ntilde", "\u00d1");
+        entities.put("Ograve", "\u00d2");
+        entities.put("Oacute", "\u00d3");
+        entities.put("Ocirc", "\u00d4");
+        entities.put("Otilde", "\u00d5");
+        entities.put("Ouml", "\u00d6");
+        entities.put("times", "\u00d7");
+        entities.put("Oslash", "\u00d8");
+        entities.put("Ugrave", "\u00d9");
+        entities.put("Uacute", "\u00da");
+        entities.put("Ucirc", "\u00db");
+        entities.put("Uuml", "\u00dc");
+        entities.put("Yacute", "\u00dd");
+        entities.put("THORN", "\u00de");
+        entities.put("szlig", "\u00df");
+        entities.put("agrave", "\u00e0");
+        entities.put("aacute", "\u00e1");
+        entities.put("acirc", "\u00e2");
+        entities.put("atilde", "\u00e3");
+        entities.put("auml", "\u00e4");
+        entities.put("aring", "\u00e5");
+        entities.put("aelig", "\u00e6");
+        entities.put("ccedil", "\u00e7");
+        entities.put("egrave", "\u00e8");
+        entities.put("eacute", "\u00e9");
+        entities.put("ecirc", "\u00ea");
+        entities.put("euml", "\u00eb");
+        entities.put("igrave", "\u00ec");
+        entities.put("iacute", "\u00ed");
+        entities.put("icirc", "\u00ee");
+        entities.put("iuml", "\u00ef");
+        entities.put("eth", "\u00f0");
+        entities.put("ntilde", "\u00f1");
+        entities.put("ograve", "\u00f2");
+        entities.put("oacute", "\u00f3");
+        entities.put("ocirc", "\u00f4");
+        entities.put("otilde", "\u00f5");
+        entities.put("ouml", "\u00f6");
+        entities.put("divide", "\u00f7");
+        entities.put("oslash", "\u00f8");
+        entities.put("ugrave", "\u00f9");
+        entities.put("uacute", "\u00fa");
+        entities.put("ucirc", "\u00fb");
+        entities.put("uuml", "\u00fc");
+        entities.put("yacute", "\u00fd");
+        entities.put("thorn", "\u00fe");
+        entities.put("yuml", "\u00ff");
+
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Special entities
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        entities.put("OElig", "\u0152");
+        entities.put("oelig", "\u0153");
+        entities.put("Scaron", "\u0160");
+        entities.put("scaron", "\u0161");
+        entities.put("Yuml", "\u0178");
+        entities.put("circ", "\u02c6");
+        entities.put("tilde", "\u02dc");
+        entities.put("ensp", "\u2002");
+        entities.put("emsp", "\u2003");
+        entities.put("thinsp", "\u2009");
+        entities.put("zwnj", "\u200c");
+        entities.put("zwj", "\u200d");
+        entities.put("lrm", "\u200e");
+        entities.put("rlm", "\u200f");
+        entities.put("ndash", "\u2013");
+        entities.put("mdash", "\u2014");
+        entities.put("lsquo", "\u2018");
+        entities.put("rsquo", "\u2019");
+        entities.put("sbquo", "\u201a");
+        entities.put("ldquo", "\u201c");
+        entities.put("rdquo", "\u201d");
+        entities.put("bdquo", "\u201e");
+        entities.put("dagger", "\u2020");
+        entities.put("Dagger", "\u2021");
+        entities.put("permil", "\u2030");
+        entities.put("lsaquo", "\u2039");
+        entities.put("rsaquo", "\u203a");
+        entities.put("euro", "\u20ac");
+
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Symbol entities
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        entities.put("fnof", "\u0192");
+        entities.put("Alpha", "\u0391");
+        entities.put("Beta", "\u0392");
+        entities.put("Gamma", "\u0393");
+        entities.put("Delta", "\u0394");
+        entities.put("Epsilon", "\u0395");
+        entities.put("Zeta", "\u0396");
+        entities.put("Eta", "\u0397");
+        entities.put("Theta", "\u0398");
+        entities.put("Iota", "\u0399");
+        entities.put("Kappa", "\u039a");
+        entities.put("Lambda", "\u039b");
+        entities.put("Mu", "\u039c");
+        entities.put("Nu", "\u039d");
+        entities.put("Xi", "\u039e");
+        entities.put("Omicron", "\u039f");
+        entities.put("Pi", "\u03a0");
+        entities.put("Rho", "\u03a1");
+        entities.put("Sigma", "\u03a3");
+        entities.put("Tau", "\u03a4");
+        entities.put("Upsilon", "\u03a5");
+        entities.put("Phi", "\u03a6");
+        entities.put("Chi", "\u03a7");
+        entities.put("Psi", "\u03a8");
+        entities.put("Omega", "\u03a9");
+        entities.put("alpha", "\u03b1");
+        entities.put("beta", "\u03b2");
+        entities.put("gamma", "\u03b3");
+        entities.put("delta", "\u03b4");
+        entities.put("epsilon", "\u03b5");
+        entities.put("zeta", "\u03b6");
+        entities.put("eta", "\u03b7");
+        entities.put("theta", "\u03b8");
+        entities.put("iota", "\u03b9");
+        entities.put("kappa", "\u03ba");
+        entities.put("lambda", "\u03bb");
+        entities.put("mu", "\u03bc");
+        entities.put("nu", "\u03bd");
+        entities.put("xi", "\u03be");
+        entities.put("omicron", "\u03bf");
+        entities.put("pi", "\u03c0");
+        entities.put("rho", "\u03c1");
+        entities.put("sigmaf", "\u03c2");
+        entities.put("sigma", "\u03c3");
+        entities.put("tau", "\u03c4");
+        entities.put("upsilon", "\u03c5");
+        entities.put("phi", "\u03c6");
+        entities.put("chi", "\u03c7");
+        entities.put("psi", "\u03c8");
+        entities.put("omega", "\u03c9");
+        entities.put("thetasym", "\u03d1");
+        entities.put("upsih", "\u03d2");
+        entities.put("piv", "\u03d6");
+        entities.put("bull", "\u2022");
+        entities.put("hellip", "\u2026");
+        entities.put("prime", "\u2032");
+        entities.put("Prime", "\u2033");
+        entities.put("oline", "\u203e");
+        entities.put("frasl", "\u2044");
+        entities.put("weierp", "\u2118");
+        entities.put("image", "\u2111");
+        entities.put("real", "\u211c");
+        entities.put("trade", "\u2122");
+        entities.put("alefsym", "\u2135");
+        entities.put("larr", "\u2190");
+        entities.put("uarr", "\u2191");
+        entities.put("rarr", "\u2192");
+        entities.put("darr", "\u2193");
+        entities.put("harr", "\u2194");
+        entities.put("crarr", "\u21b5");
+        entities.put("lArr", "\u21d0");
+        entities.put("uArr", "\u21d1");
+        entities.put("rArr", "\u21d2");
+        entities.put("dArr", "\u21d3");
+        entities.put("hArr", "\u21d4");
+        entities.put("forall", "\u2200");
+        entities.put("part", "\u2202");
+        entities.put("exist", "\u2203");
+        entities.put("empty", "\u2205");
+        entities.put("nabla", "\u2207");
+        entities.put("isin", "\u2208");
+        entities.put("notin", "\u2209");
+        entities.put("ni", "\u220b");
+        entities.put("prod", "\u220f");
+        entities.put("sum", "\u2211");
+        entities.put("minus", "\u2212");
+        entities.put("lowast", "\u2217");
+        entities.put("radic", "\u221a");
+        entities.put("prop", "\u221d");
+        entities.put("infin", "\u221e");
+        entities.put("ang", "\u2220");
+        entities.put("and", "\u2227");
+        entities.put("or", "\u2228");
+        entities.put("cap", "\u2229");
+        entities.put("cup", "\u222a");
+        entities.put("int", "\u222b");
+        entities.put("there4", "\u2234");
+        entities.put("sim", "\u223c");
+        entities.put("cong", "\u2245");
+        entities.put("asymp", "\u2248");
+        entities.put("ne", "\u2260");
+        entities.put("equiv", "\u2261");
+        entities.put("le", "\u2264");
+        entities.put("ge", "\u2265");
+        entities.put("sub", "\u2282");
+        entities.put("sup", "\u2283");
+        entities.put("nsub", "\u2284");
+        entities.put("sube", "\u2286");
+        entities.put("supe", "\u2287");
+        entities.put("oplus", "\u2295");
+        entities.put("otimes", "\u2297");
+        entities.put("perp", "\u22a5");
+        entities.put("sdot", "\u22c5");
+        entities.put("lceil", "\u2308");
+        entities.put("rceil", "\u2309");
+        entities.put("lfloor", "\u230a");
+        entities.put("rfloor", "\u230b");
+        entities.put("lang", "\u2329");
+        entities.put("rang", "\u232a");
+        entities.put("loz", "\u25ca");
+        entities.put("spades", "\u2660");
+        entities.put("clubs", "\u2663");
+        entities.put("hearts", "\u2665");
+        entities.put("diams", "\u2666");
+        DEFAULT_ENTITIES = Collections.unmodifiableMap(entities);
+    }
+
+
     public ${className}() {
         this((s, f) -> s);
     }
@@ -96,32 +367,44 @@ public class ${className} {
     } //-- void setAddDefaultEntities(boolean)
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return  ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser = addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(reader);
+    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = null;
+        try {
+            parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
         return read(parser, strict);
     } //--  ${root.name} read(Reader, boolean)
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return  ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(reader, true);
+    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = null;
+        try {
+        parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+        throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+        return read(parser,true);
     } //--  ${root.name} read(Reader)
 
     /**
@@ -130,12 +413,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param in a in object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return  ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in), strict);
+    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser, strict);
     } //--  ${root.name} read(InputStream, boolean)
 
     /**
@@ -143,12 +430,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      *
      * @param in a in object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return  ${root.name}
      */
-    public  ${root.name} read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in));
+    public  ${root.name} read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser,true);
     } //--  ${root.name} read(InputStream)
 
     /**
@@ -157,22 +448,22 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return  ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public ${root.name} read(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         $rootUcapName $rootLcapName = null;
         int eventType = parser.getEventType();
         boolean parsed = false;
-        while (eventType != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT) {
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                if (strict && ! "${rootTag}".equals(parser.getName())) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser, null);
+        while (eventType != XMLStreamReader.END_DOCUMENT) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                if (strict && ! "${rootTag}".equals(parser.getLocalName())) {
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found '" + parser.getLocalName() + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 }
                 else if (parsed) {
-                    // fallback, already expected a XmlPullParserException due to invalid XML
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '${rootTag}'", parser, null);
+                    // fallback, already expected a XMLStreamException due to invalid XML
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '${rootTag}'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 }
                 $rootLcapName = parse${rootUcapName}(parser, strict);
                 parsed = true;
@@ -182,8 +473,8 @@ public class ${className} {
         if (parsed) {
             return $rootLcapName;
         }
-        throw new XmlPullParserException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found no element at all: invalid XML document", parser, null);
-    } //--  ${root.name} read(XmlPullParser, boolean)
+        throw new XMLStreamException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found no element at all: invalid XML document", parser.getLocation(), null);
+    } //--  ${root.name} read(XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
  #if ( $class.name != "InputSource" && $class.name != "InputLocation" )
@@ -191,13 +482,13 @@ public class ${className} {
   #set ( $classLcapName = $Helper.uncapitalise( $class.name ) )
   #set ( $ancestors = $Helper.ancestors( $class ) )
   #set ( $allFields = $Helper.xmlFields( $class ) )
-    private ${classUcapName} parse${classUcapName}(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        String tagName = parser.getName();
+    private ${classUcapName} parse${classUcapName}(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        String tagName = parser.getLocalName();
         ${classUcapName}.Builder ${classLcapName} = ${classUcapName}.newBuilder(true);
         for (int i = parser.getAttributeCount() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-            String name = parser.getAttributeName(i);
-            String value = parser.getAttributeValue(i);
-            if (name.indexOf(':') >= 0) {
+            String name = parser.getAttributeLocalName(i);
+            String value = parser.getAttributeNamespace(i);
+            if (XSI_NAMESPACE.equals(value)) {
                 // just ignore attributes with non-default namespace (for example: xmlns:xsi)
             }
   #if ( $class == $root )
@@ -225,10 +516,10 @@ public class ${className} {
             }
         }
         Set<String> parsed = new HashSet<>();
-        while ((strict ? parser.nextTag() : nextTag(parser)) == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-            String childName = unalias(parser.getName());
+        while ((strict ? parser.nextTag() : nextTag(parser)) == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+            String childName = unalias(parser.getLocalName());
             if (!parsed.add(childName)) {
-                throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '" + childName + "'", parser, null);
+                throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '" + childName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
             }
             switch (childName) {
   #set( $ift = "if" )
@@ -241,22 +532,22 @@ public class ${className} {
       #set ( $fieldCapName = $Helper.capitalise( $field.name ) )
                 case "${fieldTagName}": {
       #if ( $field.type == "String" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "boolean" || $field.type == "Boolean" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getBooleanValue(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, ${field.defaultValue}));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getBooleanValue(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, ${field.defaultValue}));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "int" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getIntegerValue(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, strict, ${field.defaultValue}));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getIntegerValue(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, strict, ${field.defaultValue}));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "DOM" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(XmlNodeBuilder.build(parser, true));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(XmlNodeBuilder.build(parser));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "java.util.List" && $field.to == "String" && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     List<String> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getName())) {
-                            ${field.name}.add(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"));
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getLocalName())) {
+                            ${field.name}.add(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"));
                         }
                         else {
                             checkUnknownElement(parser, strict);
@@ -266,9 +557,9 @@ public class ${className} {
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "java.util.Properties" && $field.to == "String" && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     Map<String, String> ${field.name} = new LinkedHashMap<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        String key = parser.getName();
-                        String value = parser.nextText().trim();
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        String key = parser.getLocalName();
+                        String value = nextText(parser, strict).trim();
                         ${field.name}.put(key, value);
                     }
                     ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(${field.name});
@@ -278,8 +569,8 @@ public class ${className} {
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.to && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     List<$field.to> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getName())) {
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getLocalName())) {
                             ${field.name}.add(parse${field.toClass.name}(parser, strict));
                         }
                         else {
@@ -303,7 +594,7 @@ public class ${className} {
             }
         }
   #if ( $class == $root )
-        ${classLcapName}.modelEncoding(parser.getInputEncoding());
+        ${classLcapName}.modelEncoding(parser.getEncoding());
   #end
         return ${classLcapName}.build();
     }
@@ -337,41 +628,41 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param tagName a tagName object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
      */
-    private void checkUnknownAttribute(XmlPullParser parser, String attribute, String tagName, boolean strict) throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+    private void checkUnknownAttribute(XMLStreamReader parser, String attribute, String tagName, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException, IOException {
         // strictXmlAttributes = true for model: if strict == true, not only elements are checked but attributes too
         if (strict) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Unknown attribute '" + attribute + "' for tag '" + tagName + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Unknown attribute '" + attribute + "' for tag '" + tagName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
-    } //-- void checkUnknownAttribute(XmlPullParser, String, String, boolean)
+    } //-- void checkUnknownAttribute(XMLStreamReader, String, String, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method checkUnknownElement.
      *
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
      */
-    private void checkUnknownElement(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+    private void checkUnknownElement(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException, IOException {
         if (strict) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Unrecognised tag: '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Unrecognised tag: '" + parser.getLocalName() + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
 
         for (int unrecognizedTagCount = 1; unrecognizedTagCount > 0;) {
             int eventType = parser.next();
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
                 unrecognizedTagCount++;
             }
-            else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+            else if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT) {
                 unrecognizedTagCount--;
             }
         }
-    } //-- void checkUnknownElement(XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- void checkUnknownElement(XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getTrimmedValue.
@@ -402,20 +693,26 @@ public class ${className} {
      *
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int nextTag(XmlPullParser parser) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        int eventType = parser.next();
-        if (eventType == XmlPullParser.TEXT) {
-            eventType = parser.next();
+    private int nextTag(XMLStreamReader parser) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        while (true) {
+            int next = parser.next();
+            switch (next) {
+                case XMLStreamReader.SPACE:
+                case XMLStreamReader.COMMENT:
+                case XMLStreamReader.PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION:
+                case XMLStreamReader.CDATA:
+                case XMLStreamReader.CHARACTERS:
+                    continue;
+                case XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT:
+                case XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT:
+                    return next;
+            }
         }
-        if (eventType != XmlPullParser.START_TAG && eventType != XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("expected START_TAG or END_TAG not " + XmlPullParser.TYPES[eventType], parser, null);
-        }
-        return eventType;
-    } //-- int nextTag(XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- int nextTag(XMLStreamReader)
 
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
   #foreach ( $field in $class.getFields($version) )
@@ -434,16 +731,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param defaultValue a defaultValue object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return boolean
      */
-    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean defaultValue) throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean defaultValue) throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null && s.length() != 0) {
             return Boolean.valueOf(s).booleanValue();
         }
         return defaultValue;
-    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, String)
+    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, String)
 
 #end
 #if ( $hasIntegerField )
@@ -454,23 +751,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict, int defaultValue) throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict, int defaultValue) throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Integer.valueOf(s).intValue();
             }
             catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be an integer", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be an integer", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return defaultValue;
-    } //-- int getIntegerValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- int getIntegerValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
 #end
     public static interface ContentTransformer {
@@ -483,5 +780,39 @@ public class ${className} {
          */
         String transform(String source, String fieldName);
     }
+    
+    private String nextText(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException {
+        int eventType = parser.getEventType();
+        if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+            throw new XMLStreamException("parser must be on START_ELEMENT to read next text", parser.getLocation(), null);
+        }
+        eventType = parser.next();
+        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
+        while (true) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.CHARACTERS || eventType == XMLStreamReader.CDATA) {
+                result.append(parser.getText());
+            } else if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.ENTITY_REFERENCE) {
+                String val = null;
+                if (strict) {
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Entities are not supported in strict mode", parser.getLocation(), null);
+                } else if (addDefaultEntities) {
+                    val = DEFAULT_ENTITIES.get(parser.getLocalName());
+                }
+                if (val != null) {
+                    result.append(val);
+                } else {
+                    result.append("&").append(parser.getLocalName()).append(";");
+                }
+            } else if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.COMMENT) {
+                break;
+            }
+            eventType = parser.next();
+        }
+        if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT) {
+            throw new XMLStreamException(
+                    "TEXT must be immediately followed by END_ELEMENT and not " + eventType /*TODO: TYPES[eventType]*/, parser.getLocation(), null);
+        }
+        return result.toString();
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/mdo/reader.vm b/src/mdo/reader.vm
index 91bf959042..652a78c53a 100644
--- a/src/mdo/reader.vm
+++ b/src/mdo/reader.vm
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -56,11 +57,10 @@ import org.apache.maven.internal.xml.XmlNodeBuilder;
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
 import ${packageModelV4}.${class.name};
 #end
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParser;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.XmlPullParserException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamException;
+import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamReader;
+import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamSource;
 
 @Deprecated
 @Generated
@@ -70,6 +70,276 @@ public class ${className} {
 
     private final ContentTransformer contentTransformer;
 
+    /**
+    * XSI namespace
+    */
+    private static final String XSI_NAMESPACE = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";
+
+    private static final Map<String, String> DEFAULT_ENTITIES;
+    static {
+        Map<String, String> entities = new HashMap<>();
+        entities.put("nbsp", "\u00a0");
+        entities.put("iexcl", "\u00a1");
+        entities.put("cent", "\u00a2");
+        entities.put("pound", "\u00a3");
+        entities.put("curren", "\u00a4");
+        entities.put("yen", "\u00a5");
+        entities.put("brvbar", "\u00a6");
+        entities.put("sect", "\u00a7");
+        entities.put("uml", "\u00a8");
+        entities.put("copy", "\u00a9");
+        entities.put("ordf", "\u00aa");
+        entities.put("laquo", "\u00ab");
+        entities.put("not", "\u00ac");
+        entities.put("shy", "\u00ad");
+        entities.put("reg", "\u00ae");
+        entities.put("macr", "\u00af");
+        entities.put("deg", "\u00b0");
+        entities.put("plusmn", "\u00b1");
+        entities.put("sup2", "\u00b2");
+        entities.put("sup3", "\u00b3");
+        entities.put("acute", "\u00b4");
+        entities.put("micro", "\u00b5");
+        entities.put("para", "\u00b6");
+        entities.put("middot", "\u00b7");
+        entities.put("cedil", "\u00b8");
+        entities.put("sup1", "\u00b9");
+        entities.put("ordm", "\u00ba");
+        entities.put("raquo", "\u00bb");
+        entities.put("frac14", "\u00bc");
+        entities.put("frac12", "\u00bd");
+        entities.put("frac34", "\u00be");
+        entities.put("iquest", "\u00bf");
+        entities.put("Agrave", "\u00c0");
+        entities.put("Aacute", "\u00c1");
+        entities.put("Acirc", "\u00c2");
+        entities.put("Atilde", "\u00c3");
+        entities.put("Auml", "\u00c4");
+        entities.put("Aring", "\u00c5");
+        entities.put("AElig", "\u00c6");
+        entities.put("Ccedil", "\u00c7");
+        entities.put("Egrave", "\u00c8");
+        entities.put("Eacute", "\u00c9");
+        entities.put("Ecirc", "\u00ca");
+        entities.put("Euml", "\u00cb");
+        entities.put("Igrave", "\u00cc");
+        entities.put("Iacute", "\u00cd");
+        entities.put("Icirc", "\u00ce");
+        entities.put("Iuml", "\u00cf");
+        entities.put("ETH", "\u00d0");
+        entities.put("Ntilde", "\u00d1");
+        entities.put("Ograve", "\u00d2");
+        entities.put("Oacute", "\u00d3");
+        entities.put("Ocirc", "\u00d4");
+        entities.put("Otilde", "\u00d5");
+        entities.put("Ouml", "\u00d6");
+        entities.put("times", "\u00d7");
+        entities.put("Oslash", "\u00d8");
+        entities.put("Ugrave", "\u00d9");
+        entities.put("Uacute", "\u00da");
+        entities.put("Ucirc", "\u00db");
+        entities.put("Uuml", "\u00dc");
+        entities.put("Yacute", "\u00dd");
+        entities.put("THORN", "\u00de");
+        entities.put("szlig", "\u00df");
+        entities.put("agrave", "\u00e0");
+        entities.put("aacute", "\u00e1");
+        entities.put("acirc", "\u00e2");
+        entities.put("atilde", "\u00e3");
+        entities.put("auml", "\u00e4");
+        entities.put("aring", "\u00e5");
+        entities.put("aelig", "\u00e6");
+        entities.put("ccedil", "\u00e7");
+        entities.put("egrave", "\u00e8");
+        entities.put("eacute", "\u00e9");
+        entities.put("ecirc", "\u00ea");
+        entities.put("euml", "\u00eb");
+        entities.put("igrave", "\u00ec");
+        entities.put("iacute", "\u00ed");
+        entities.put("icirc", "\u00ee");
+        entities.put("iuml", "\u00ef");
+        entities.put("eth", "\u00f0");
+        entities.put("ntilde", "\u00f1");
+        entities.put("ograve", "\u00f2");
+        entities.put("oacute", "\u00f3");
+        entities.put("ocirc", "\u00f4");
+        entities.put("otilde", "\u00f5");
+        entities.put("ouml", "\u00f6");
+        entities.put("divide", "\u00f7");
+        entities.put("oslash", "\u00f8");
+        entities.put("ugrave", "\u00f9");
+        entities.put("uacute", "\u00fa");
+        entities.put("ucirc", "\u00fb");
+        entities.put("uuml", "\u00fc");
+        entities.put("yacute", "\u00fd");
+        entities.put("thorn", "\u00fe");
+        entities.put("yuml", "\u00ff");
+
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Special entities
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        entities.put("OElig", "\u0152");
+        entities.put("oelig", "\u0153");
+        entities.put("Scaron", "\u0160");
+        entities.put("scaron", "\u0161");
+        entities.put("Yuml", "\u0178");
+        entities.put("circ", "\u02c6");
+        entities.put("tilde", "\u02dc");
+        entities.put("ensp", "\u2002");
+        entities.put("emsp", "\u2003");
+        entities.put("thinsp", "\u2009");
+        entities.put("zwnj", "\u200c");
+        entities.put("zwj", "\u200d");
+        entities.put("lrm", "\u200e");
+        entities.put("rlm", "\u200f");
+        entities.put("ndash", "\u2013");
+        entities.put("mdash", "\u2014");
+        entities.put("lsquo", "\u2018");
+        entities.put("rsquo", "\u2019");
+        entities.put("sbquo", "\u201a");
+        entities.put("ldquo", "\u201c");
+        entities.put("rdquo", "\u201d");
+        entities.put("bdquo", "\u201e");
+        entities.put("dagger", "\u2020");
+        entities.put("Dagger", "\u2021");
+        entities.put("permil", "\u2030");
+        entities.put("lsaquo", "\u2039");
+        entities.put("rsaquo", "\u203a");
+        entities.put("euro", "\u20ac");
+
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+        // Symbol entities
+        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+        entities.put("fnof", "\u0192");
+        entities.put("Alpha", "\u0391");
+        entities.put("Beta", "\u0392");
+        entities.put("Gamma", "\u0393");
+        entities.put("Delta", "\u0394");
+        entities.put("Epsilon", "\u0395");
+        entities.put("Zeta", "\u0396");
+        entities.put("Eta", "\u0397");
+        entities.put("Theta", "\u0398");
+        entities.put("Iota", "\u0399");
+        entities.put("Kappa", "\u039a");
+        entities.put("Lambda", "\u039b");
+        entities.put("Mu", "\u039c");
+        entities.put("Nu", "\u039d");
+        entities.put("Xi", "\u039e");
+        entities.put("Omicron", "\u039f");
+        entities.put("Pi", "\u03a0");
+        entities.put("Rho", "\u03a1");
+        entities.put("Sigma", "\u03a3");
+        entities.put("Tau", "\u03a4");
+        entities.put("Upsilon", "\u03a5");
+        entities.put("Phi", "\u03a6");
+        entities.put("Chi", "\u03a7");
+        entities.put("Psi", "\u03a8");
+        entities.put("Omega", "\u03a9");
+        entities.put("alpha", "\u03b1");
+        entities.put("beta", "\u03b2");
+        entities.put("gamma", "\u03b3");
+        entities.put("delta", "\u03b4");
+        entities.put("epsilon", "\u03b5");
+        entities.put("zeta", "\u03b6");
+        entities.put("eta", "\u03b7");
+        entities.put("theta", "\u03b8");
+        entities.put("iota", "\u03b9");
+        entities.put("kappa", "\u03ba");
+        entities.put("lambda", "\u03bb");
+        entities.put("mu", "\u03bc");
+        entities.put("nu", "\u03bd");
+        entities.put("xi", "\u03be");
+        entities.put("omicron", "\u03bf");
+        entities.put("pi", "\u03c0");
+        entities.put("rho", "\u03c1");
+        entities.put("sigmaf", "\u03c2");
+        entities.put("sigma", "\u03c3");
+        entities.put("tau", "\u03c4");
+        entities.put("upsilon", "\u03c5");
+        entities.put("phi", "\u03c6");
+        entities.put("chi", "\u03c7");
+        entities.put("psi", "\u03c8");
+        entities.put("omega", "\u03c9");
+        entities.put("thetasym", "\u03d1");
+        entities.put("upsih", "\u03d2");
+        entities.put("piv", "\u03d6");
+        entities.put("bull", "\u2022");
+        entities.put("hellip", "\u2026");
+        entities.put("prime", "\u2032");
+        entities.put("Prime", "\u2033");
+        entities.put("oline", "\u203e");
+        entities.put("frasl", "\u2044");
+        entities.put("weierp", "\u2118");
+        entities.put("image", "\u2111");
+        entities.put("real", "\u211c");
+        entities.put("trade", "\u2122");
+        entities.put("alefsym", "\u2135");
+        entities.put("larr", "\u2190");
+        entities.put("uarr", "\u2191");
+        entities.put("rarr", "\u2192");
+        entities.put("darr", "\u2193");
+        entities.put("harr", "\u2194");
+        entities.put("crarr", "\u21b5");
+        entities.put("lArr", "\u21d0");
+        entities.put("uArr", "\u21d1");
+        entities.put("rArr", "\u21d2");
+        entities.put("dArr", "\u21d3");
+        entities.put("hArr", "\u21d4");
+        entities.put("forall", "\u2200");
+        entities.put("part", "\u2202");
+        entities.put("exist", "\u2203");
+        entities.put("empty", "\u2205");
+        entities.put("nabla", "\u2207");
+        entities.put("isin", "\u2208");
+        entities.put("notin", "\u2209");
+        entities.put("ni", "\u220b");
+        entities.put("prod", "\u220f");
+        entities.put("sum", "\u2211");
+        entities.put("minus", "\u2212");
+        entities.put("lowast", "\u2217");
+        entities.put("radic", "\u221a");
+        entities.put("prop", "\u221d");
+        entities.put("infin", "\u221e");
+        entities.put("ang", "\u2220");
+        entities.put("and", "\u2227");
+        entities.put("or", "\u2228");
+        entities.put("cap", "\u2229");
+        entities.put("cup", "\u222a");
+        entities.put("int", "\u222b");
+        entities.put("there4", "\u2234");
+        entities.put("sim", "\u223c");
+        entities.put("cong", "\u2245");
+        entities.put("asymp", "\u2248");
+        entities.put("ne", "\u2260");
+        entities.put("equiv", "\u2261");
+        entities.put("le", "\u2264");
+        entities.put("ge", "\u2265");
+        entities.put("sub", "\u2282");
+        entities.put("sup", "\u2283");
+        entities.put("nsub", "\u2284");
+        entities.put("sube", "\u2286");
+        entities.put("supe", "\u2287");
+        entities.put("oplus", "\u2295");
+        entities.put("otimes", "\u2297");
+        entities.put("perp", "\u22a5");
+        entities.put("sdot", "\u22c5");
+        entities.put("lceil", "\u2308");
+        entities.put("rceil", "\u2309");
+        entities.put("lfloor", "\u230a");
+        entities.put("rfloor", "\u230b");
+        entities.put("lang", "\u2329");
+        entities.put("rang", "\u232a");
+        entities.put("loz", "\u25ca");
+        entities.put("spades", "\u2660");
+        entities.put("clubs", "\u2663");
+        entities.put("hearts", "\u2665");
+        entities.put("diams", "\u2666");
+        DEFAULT_ENTITIES = Collections.unmodifiableMap(entities);
+    }
+
+
     public ${className}() {
         this((s, f) -> s);
     }
@@ -79,31 +349,35 @@ public class ${className} {
     }
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        XmlPullParser parser = addDefaultEntities ? new MXParser(EntityReplacementMap.defaultEntityReplacementMap) : new MXParser();
-        parser.setInput(reader);
+    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = null;
+        try {
+            parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(reader);
+        } catch (XMLStreamException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
         return read(parser, strict);
     } //-- ${root.name} read(Reader, boolean)
 
     /**
-     * @see ReaderFactory#newXmlReader
      *
      * @param reader a reader object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public ${root.name} read(Reader reader) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         return read(reader, true);
     } //-- ${root.name} read(Reader)
 
@@ -113,12 +387,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param in a in object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in), strict);
+    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser, strict);
     } //-- ${root.name} read(InputStream, boolean)
 
     /**
@@ -126,12 +404,16 @@ public class ${className} {
      *
      * @param in a in object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        return read(ReaderFactory.newXmlReader(in));
+    public ${root.name} read(InputStream in) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        XMLInputFactory factory = new com.ctc.wstx.stax.WstxInputFactory();
+        factory.setProperty(XMLInputFactory.IS_REPLACING_ENTITY_REFERENCES, false);
+        StreamSource streamSource = new StreamSource(in, null);
+        XMLStreamReader parser = factory.createXMLStreamReader(streamSource);
+        return read(parser,true);
     } //-- ${root.name} read(InputStream)
 
     /**
@@ -140,21 +422,21 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return ${root.name}
      */
-    public ${root.name} read(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
+    public ${root.name} read(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
         $rootUcapName $rootLcapName = null;
         int eventType = parser.getEventType();
         boolean parsed = false;
-        while (eventType != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT) {
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                if (strict && ! "${rootTag}".equals(parser.getName())) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser, null);
+        while (eventType != XMLStreamReader.END_DOCUMENT) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                if (strict && ! "${rootTag}".equals(parser.getLocalName())) {
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found '" + parser.getLocalName() + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 } else if (parsed) {
-                    // fallback, already expected a XmlPullParserException due to invalid XML
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '${rootTag}'", parser, null);
+                    // fallback, already expected a XMLStreamException due to invalid XML
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '${rootTag}'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 }
                 $rootLcapName = parse${rootUcapName}(parser, strict);
                 parsed = true;
@@ -164,8 +446,8 @@ public class ${className} {
         if (parsed) {
             return $rootLcapName;
         }
-        throw new XmlPullParserException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found no element at all: invalid XML document", parser, null);
-    } //-- ${root.name} read(XmlPullParser, boolean)
+        throw new XMLStreamException("Expected root element '${rootTag}' but found no element at all: invalid XML document", parser.getLocation(), null);
+    } //-- ${root.name} read(XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
  #if ( $class.name != "InputSource" && $class.name != "InputLocation" )
@@ -176,17 +458,18 @@ public class ${className} {
   #foreach ( $cl in $ancestors )
     #set ( $dummy = $allFields.addAll( $cl.getFields($version) ) )
   #end
-    private ${classUcapName} parse${classUcapName}(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-            throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        String tagName = parser.getName();
+    private ${classUcapName} parse${classUcapName}(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+            throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        String tagName = parser.getLocalName();
         ${classUcapName}.Builder ${classLcapName} = ${classUcapName}.newBuilder(true);
         for (int i = parser.getAttributeCount() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-            String name = parser.getAttributeName(i);
+            String name = parser.getAttributeLocalName(i);
+            String ns = parser.getAttributeNamespace(i);
             String value = parser.getAttributeValue(i);
-            if (name.indexOf(':') >= 0) {
+            if (XSI_NAMESPACE.equals(ns)) {
                 // just ignore attributes with non-default namespace (for example: xmlns:xsi)
-  #if ( $class == $root )
-            } else if ("xmlns".equals(name)) {
+     #if ( $class == $root )
+            }  else if ("xmlns".equals(name)) {
                 // ignore xmlns attribute in root class, which is a reserved attribute name
   #end
             }
@@ -215,8 +498,8 @@ public class ${className} {
         List<$field.to> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
     #end
   #end
-        while ((strict ? parser.nextTag() : nextTag(parser)) == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-            String childName = checkDuplicate(parser.getName(), parser, parsed);
+        while ((strict ? parser.nextTag() : nextTag(parser)) == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+            String childName = checkDuplicate(parser.getLocalName(), parser, parsed);
             switch (childName) {
   #set( $ift = "if" )
   #foreach ( $field in $allFields )
@@ -231,22 +514,22 @@ public class ${className} {
       #set ( $fieldCapName = $Helper.capitalise( $field.name ) )
                 case "${fieldTagName}": {
       #if ( $field.type == "String" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "boolean" || $field.type == "Boolean" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getBooleanValue(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, ${field.defaultValue}));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getBooleanValue(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, ${field.defaultValue}));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "int" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getIntegerValue(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, strict, ${field.defaultValue}));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(getIntegerValue(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"), "${fieldTagName}", parser, strict, ${field.defaultValue}));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "DOM" )
-                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(XmlNodeBuilder.build(parser, true));
+                    ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(XmlNodeBuilder.build(parser));
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "java.util.List" && $field.to == "String" && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     List<String> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getName())) {
-                            ${field.name}.add(interpolatedTrimmed(parser.nextText(), "${fieldTagName}"));
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getLocalName())) {
+                            ${field.name}.add(interpolatedTrimmed(nextText(parser, strict), "${fieldTagName}"));
                         } else {
                             checkUnknownElement(parser, strict);
                         }
@@ -255,9 +538,9 @@ public class ${className} {
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.type == "java.util.Properties" && $field.to == "String" && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     Map<String, String> ${field.name} = new LinkedHashMap<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        String key = parser.getName();
-                        String value = parser.nextText().trim();
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        String key = parser.getLocalName();
+                        String value = nextText(parser, strict).trim();
                         ${field.name}.put(key, value);
                     }
                     ${classLcapName}.${field.name}(${field.name});
@@ -270,8 +553,8 @@ public class ${className} {
                     break;
       #elseif ( $field.to && $field.multiplicity == "*" )
                     List<$field.to> ${field.name} = new ArrayList<>();
-                    while (parser.nextTag() == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
-                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getName())) {
+                    while (parser.nextTag() == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+                        if ("${Helper.singular($fieldTagName)}".equals(parser.getLocalName())) {
                             ${field.name}.add(parse${field.toClass.name}(parser, strict));
                         } else {
                             checkUnknownElement(parser, strict);
@@ -299,7 +582,7 @@ public class ${className} {
     #end
   #end
   #if ( $class == $root )
-        ${classLcapName}.modelEncoding(parser.getInputEncoding());
+        ${classLcapName}.modelEncoding(parser.getEncoding());
   #end
         return ${classLcapName}.build();
     }
@@ -307,7 +590,7 @@ public class ${className} {
  #end
 #end
 
-    private String checkDuplicate(String tagName, XmlPullParser parser, Set<String> parsed) throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private String checkDuplicate(String tagName, XMLStreamReader parser, Set<String> parsed) throws XMLStreamException {
 #set( $aliases = { } )
 #set( $flats = { } )
 #foreach( $class in $model.allClasses )
@@ -341,7 +624,7 @@ public class ${className} {
                 break;
             default:
                 if (!parsed.add(tagName)) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '" + tagName + "'", parser, null);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '" + tagName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
                 }
         }
 #end
@@ -375,20 +658,20 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param parsed a parsed object.
      * @param alias a alias object.
      * @param tagName a tagName object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return boolean
      */
-    private boolean checkFieldWithDuplicate(XmlPullParser parser, String tagName, String alias, Set<String> parsed)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
-        if (!(parser.getName().equals(tagName) || parser.getName().equals(alias))) {
+    private boolean checkFieldWithDuplicate(XMLStreamReader parser, String tagName, String alias, Set<String> parsed)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
+        if (!(parser.getLocalName().equals(tagName) || parser.getLocalName().equals(alias))) {
             return false;
         }
         if (!parsed.add(tagName)) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Duplicated tag: '" + tagName + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Duplicated tag: '" + tagName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
         return true;
-    } //-- boolean checkFieldWithDuplicate(XmlPullParser, String, String, Set<String>)
+    } //-- boolean checkFieldWithDuplicate(XMLStreamReader, String, String, Set<String>)
 
     /**
      * Method checkUnknownAttribute.
@@ -397,42 +680,42 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param tagName a tagName object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
      */
-    private void checkUnknownAttribute(XmlPullParser parser, String attribute, String tagName, boolean strict)
-        throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+    private void checkUnknownAttribute(XMLStreamReader parser, String attribute, String tagName, boolean strict)
+        throws XMLStreamException, IOException {
         // strictXmlAttributes = true for model: if strict == true, not only elements are checked but attributes too
         if (strict) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Unknown attribute '" + attribute + "' for tag '" + tagName + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Unknown attribute '" + attribute + "' for tag '" + tagName + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
-    } //-- void checkUnknownAttribute(XmlPullParser, String, String, boolean)
+    } //-- void checkUnknownAttribute(XMLStreamReader, String, String, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method checkUnknownElement.
      *
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param strict a strict object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
      */
-    private void checkUnknownElement(XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-        throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+    private void checkUnknownElement(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+        throws XMLStreamException, IOException {
         if (strict) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("Unrecognised tag: '" + parser.getName() + "'", parser, null);
+            throw new XMLStreamException("Unrecognised tag: '" + parser.getLocalName() + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
 
         for (int unrecognizedTagCount = 1; unrecognizedTagCount > 0;) {
             int eventType = parser.next();
-            if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
                 unrecognizedTagCount++;
-            } else if (eventType == XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
+            } else if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT) {
                 unrecognizedTagCount--;
             }
         }
-    } //-- void checkUnknownElement(XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- void checkUnknownElement(XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Returns the state of the "add default entities" flag.
@@ -449,14 +732,14 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param s a s object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return boolean
      */
-    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         return getBooleanValue(s, attribute, parser, false);
-    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader)
 
     /**
      * Method getBooleanValue.
@@ -465,17 +748,17 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param defaultValue a defaultValue object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return boolean
      */
-    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean defaultValue)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private boolean getBooleanValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean defaultValue)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null && s.length() != 0) {
             return Boolean.valueOf(s).booleanValue();
         }
         return defaultValue;
-    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, String)
+    } //-- boolean getBooleanValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, String)
 
     /**
      * Method getByteValue.
@@ -484,23 +767,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return byte
      */
-    private byte getByteValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private byte getByteValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Byte.valueOf(s).byteValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a byte", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a byte", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return 0;
-    } //-- byte getByteValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- byte getByteValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getCharacterValue.
@@ -508,17 +791,17 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param s a s object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return char
      */
-    private char getCharacterValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private char getCharacterValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             return s.charAt(0);
         }
         return 0;
-    } //-- char getCharacterValue(String, String, XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- char getCharacterValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader)
 
     /**
      * Method getDateValue.
@@ -526,14 +809,14 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param s a s object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Date
      */
-    private Date getDateValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private Date getDateValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         return getDateValue(s, attribute, null, parser);
-    } //-- Date getDateValue(String, String, XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- Date getDateValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader)
 
     /**
      * Method getDateValue.
@@ -542,12 +825,12 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param dateFormat a dateFormat object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return Date
      */
-    private Date getDateValue(String s, String attribute, String dateFormat, XmlPullParser parser)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private Date getDateValue(String s, String attribute, String dateFormat, XMLStreamReader parser)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             String effectiveDateFormat = dateFormat;
             if (dateFormat == null) {
@@ -557,19 +840,19 @@ public class ${className} {
                 try {
                     return new java.util.Date(Long.parseLong(s));
                 } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException(e.getMessage(), parser, e);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException(e.getMessage(), parser.getLocation(), e);
                 }
             } else {
                 try {
                     DateFormat dateParser = new java.text.SimpleDateFormat(effectiveDateFormat, java.util.Locale.US);
                     return dateParser.parse(s);
                 } catch (java.text.ParseException e) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException(e.getMessage(), parser, e);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException(e.getMessage(), parser.getLocation(), e);
                 }
             }
         }
         return null;
-    } //-- Date getDateValue(String, String, String, XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- Date getDateValue(String, String, String, XMLStreamReader)
 
     /**
      * Method getDoubleValue.
@@ -578,23 +861,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return double
      */
-    private double getDoubleValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private double getDoubleValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Double.valueOf(s).doubleValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a floating point number", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a floating point number", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return 0;
-    } //-- double getDoubleValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- double getDoubleValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getFloatValue.
@@ -603,23 +886,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return float
      */
-    private float getFloatValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private float getFloatValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Float.valueOf(s).floatValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a floating point number", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a floating point number", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return 0;
-    } //-- float getFloatValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- float getFloatValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getIntegerValue.
@@ -627,14 +910,14 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param s a s object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         return getIntegerValue(s, attribute, parser, strict, 0);
-    } //-- int getBooleanValue(String, String, XmlPullParser)
+    } //-- int getBooleanValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader)
 
     /**
      * Method getIntegerValue.
@@ -643,23 +926,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict, int defaultValue)
-        throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private int getIntegerValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict, int defaultValue)
+        throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Integer.valueOf(s).intValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be an integer", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be an integer", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return defaultValue;
-    } //-- int getIntegerValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean, int)
+    } //-- int getIntegerValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean, int)
 
     /**
      * Method getLongValue.
@@ -668,23 +951,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return long
      */
-    private long getLongValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-            throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private long getLongValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+            throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Long.valueOf(s).longValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a long integer", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a long integer", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return 0;
-    } //-- long getLongValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- long getLongValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getRequiredAttributeValue.
@@ -693,19 +976,19 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return String
      */
-    private String getRequiredAttributeValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-            throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private String getRequiredAttributeValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+            throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s == null) {
             if (strict) {
-                throw new XmlPullParserException("Missing required value for attribute '" + attribute + "'", parser, null);
+                throw new XMLStreamException("Missing required value for attribute '" + attribute + "'", parser.getLocation(), null);
             }
         }
         return s;
-    } //-- String getRequiredAttributeValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- String getRequiredAttributeValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getShortValue.
@@ -714,23 +997,23 @@ public class ${className} {
      * @param strict a strict object.
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @param attribute a attribute object.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return short
      */
-    private short getShortValue(String s, String attribute, XmlPullParser parser, boolean strict)
-            throws XmlPullParserException {
+    private short getShortValue(String s, String attribute, XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict)
+            throws XMLStreamException {
         if (s != null) {
             try {
                 return Short.valueOf(s).shortValue();
             } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
                 if (strict) {
-                    throw new XmlPullParserException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a short integer", parser, nfe);
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Unable to parse element '" + attribute + "', must be a short integer", parser.getLocation(), nfe);
                 }
             }
         }
         return 0;
-    } //-- short getShortValue(String, String, XmlPullParser, boolean)
+    } //-- short getShortValue(String, String, XMLStreamReader, boolean)
 
     /**
      * Method getTrimmedValue.
@@ -761,19 +1044,59 @@ public class ${className} {
      *
      * @param parser a parser object.
      * @throws IOException IOException if any.
-     * @throws XmlPullParserException XmlPullParserException if
+     * @throws XMLStreamException XMLStreamException if
      * any.
      * @return int
      */
-    private int nextTag(XmlPullParser parser) throws IOException, XmlPullParserException {
-        int eventType = parser.next();
-        if (eventType == XmlPullParser.TEXT) {
+    private int nextTag(XMLStreamReader parser) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+        while (true) {
+            int next = parser.next();
+            switch (next) {
+                case XMLStreamReader.SPACE:
+                case XMLStreamReader.COMMENT:
+                case XMLStreamReader.PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION:
+                case XMLStreamReader.CDATA:
+                case XMLStreamReader.CHARACTERS:
+                    continue;
+                case XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT:
+                case XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT:
+                    return next;
+            }
+        }
+    } //-- int nextTag(XMLStreamReader)
+
+    private String nextText(XMLStreamReader parser, boolean strict) throws XMLStreamException {
+        int eventType = parser.getEventType();
+        if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.START_ELEMENT) {
+            throw new XMLStreamException("parser must be on START_ELEMENT to read next text", parser.getLocation(), null);
+        }
+        eventType = parser.next();
+        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
+        while (true) {
+            if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.CHARACTERS || eventType == XMLStreamReader.CDATA) {
+                result.append(parser.getText());
+            } else if (eventType == XMLStreamReader.ENTITY_REFERENCE) {
+                String val = null;
+                if (strict) {
+                    throw new XMLStreamException("Entities are not supported in strict mode", parser.getLocation(), null);
+                } else if (addDefaultEntities) {
+                    val = DEFAULT_ENTITIES.get(parser.getLocalName());
+                }
+                if (val != null) {
+                    result.append(val);
+                } else {
+                    result.append("&").append(parser.getLocalName()).append(";");
+                }
+            } else if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.COMMENT) {
+                break;
+            }
             eventType = parser.next();
         }
-        if (eventType != XmlPullParser.START_TAG && eventType != XmlPullParser.END_TAG) {
-            throw new XmlPullParserException("expected START_TAG or END_TAG not " + XmlPullParser.TYPES[eventType], parser, null);
+        if (eventType != XMLStreamReader.END_ELEMENT) {
+            throw new XMLStreamException(
+                    "TEXT must be immediately followed by END_ELEMENT and not " + eventType /*TODO: TYPES[eventType]*/, parser.getLocation(), null);
         }
-        return eventType;
-    } //-- int nextTag(XmlPullParser)
+        return result.toString();
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/mdo/writer-ex.vm b/src/mdo/writer-ex.vm
index 83eed9c972..3d3e24d140 100644
--- a/src/mdo/writer-ex.vm
+++ b/src/mdo/writer-ex.vm
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.internal.xml.XmlNodeBuilder;
 import ${packageModelV4}.${class.name};
   #end
 #end
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXSerializer;
diff --git a/src/mdo/writer.vm b/src/mdo/writer.vm
index 96387f5317..33a3689993 100644
--- a/src/mdo/writer.vm
+++ b/src/mdo/writer.vm
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ import org.apache.maven.internal.xml.XmlNodeBuilder;
 #foreach ( $class in $model.allClasses )
 import ${packageModelV4}.${class.name};
 #end
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.EntityReplacementMap;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXParser;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.xml.pull.MXSerializer;