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 fd642dc7b7..77a53c6eb5 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
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ package org.apache.maven.project;
  */
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ import org.apache.maven.model.ModelBuildingException;
 import org.apache.maven.model.ModelBuildingRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.model.ModelBuildingResult;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Profile;
-import org.apache.maven.model.io.ModelReader;
+import org.apache.maven.model.UrlModelSource;
 import org.apache.maven.model.resolution.ModelResolver;
 import org.apache.maven.project.artifact.ProjectArtifact;
 import org.apache.maven.repository.RepositorySystem;
@@ -60,9 +59,6 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder
     @Requirement
     private ModelBuilder modelBuilder;
 
-    @Requirement
-    private ModelReader modelReader;
-
     @Requirement
     private LifecycleExecutor lifecycle;
 
@@ -72,7 +68,7 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder
     @Requirement
     private ResolutionErrorHandler resolutionErrorHandler;
     
-    private MavenProject superProject;
+    private MavenProject standaloneProject;
 
     // ----------------------------------------------------------------------
     // MavenProjectBuilder Implementation
@@ -87,19 +83,7 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder
     private MavenProject build( File pomFile, boolean localProject, ProjectBuildingRequest configuration )
         throws ProjectBuildingException
     {
-        ModelResolver resolver =
-            new RepositoryModelResolver( repositorySystem, resolutionErrorHandler, configuration.getLocalRepository(),
-                                         configuration.getRemoteRepositories() );
-
-        ModelBuildingRequest request = new DefaultModelBuildingRequest();
-        request.setLenientValidation( configuration.istLenientValidation() );
-        request.setProcessPlugins( configuration.isProcessPlugins() );
-        request.setProfiles( configuration.getProfiles() );
-        request.setActiveProfileIds( configuration.getActiveProfileIds() );
-        request.setInactiveProfileIds( configuration.getInactiveProfileIds() );
-        request.setExecutionProperties( configuration.getExecutionProperties() );
-        request.setBuildStartTime( configuration.getBuildStartTime() );
-        request.setModelResolver( resolver );
+        ModelBuildingRequest request = getModelBuildingRequest( configuration );
 
         ModelBuildingResult result;
         try
@@ -153,6 +137,25 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder
         return project;
     }
 
+    private ModelBuildingRequest getModelBuildingRequest( ProjectBuildingRequest configuration )
+    {
+        ModelResolver resolver =
+            new RepositoryModelResolver( repositorySystem, resolutionErrorHandler, configuration.getLocalRepository(),
+                                         configuration.getRemoteRepositories() );
+
+        ModelBuildingRequest request = new DefaultModelBuildingRequest();
+        request.setLenientValidation( configuration.istLenientValidation() );
+        request.setProcessPlugins( configuration.isProcessPlugins() );
+        request.setProfiles( configuration.getProfiles() );
+        request.setActiveProfileIds( configuration.getActiveProfileIds() );
+        request.setInactiveProfileIds( configuration.getInactiveProfileIds() );
+        request.setExecutionProperties( configuration.getExecutionProperties() );
+        request.setBuildStartTime( configuration.getBuildStartTime() );
+        request.setModelResolver( resolver );
+
+        return request;
+    }
+
     public MavenProject build( Artifact artifact, ProjectBuildingRequest configuration )
         throws ProjectBuildingException
     {
@@ -189,25 +192,35 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder
     public MavenProject buildStandaloneSuperProject( ProjectBuildingRequest config )
         throws ProjectBuildingException
     {
-        if ( superProject != null )
+        if ( standaloneProject != null )
         {
-            return superProject;
+            return standaloneProject;
         }
 
-        Model superModel = getSuperModel();
+        ModelBuildingRequest request = getModelBuildingRequest( config );
+
+        ModelBuildingResult result;
+        try
+        {
+            result = modelBuilder.build( new UrlModelSource( getClass().getResource( "standalone.xml" ) ), request );
+        }
+        catch ( ModelBuildingException e )
+        {
+            throw new ProjectBuildingException( "[standalone]", "Failed to build standalone project", e );
+        }
 
         try
         {
-            superProject = new MavenProject( superModel, repositorySystem, this, config );
+            standaloneProject = new MavenProject( result.getEffectiveModel(), repositorySystem, this, config );
         }
         catch ( InvalidRepositoryException e )
         {
             // Not going to happen.
         }
 
-        superProject.setExecutionRoot( true );
+        standaloneProject.setExecutionRoot( true );
 
-        return superProject;
+        return standaloneProject;
     }
 
     public MavenProjectBuildingResult buildProjectWithDependencies( File pomFile, ProjectBuildingRequest request )
@@ -282,32 +295,4 @@ public class DefaultProjectBuilder
         return ArtifactUtils.versionlessKey( gid, aid );
     }
 
-    // Super Model Handling
-
-    private static final String MAVEN_MODEL_VERSION = "4.0.0";
-
-    private Model superModel;
-
-    protected Model getSuperModel()
-    {
-        if ( superModel != null )
-        {
-            return superModel;
-        }
-
-        String superPomResource = "/org/apache/maven/project/pom-" + MAVEN_MODEL_VERSION + ".xml";
-
-        try
-        {
-            superModel = modelReader.read( getClass().getResourceAsStream( superPomResource ), null );
-        }
-        catch ( IOException e )
-        {
-            throw new IllegalStateException( "The super POM is damaged"
-                + ", please verify the integrity of your Maven installation", e );
-        }
-
-        return superModel;
-    }
-
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/standalone.xml b/maven-core/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/standalone.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3ab96a2f59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/standalone.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+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.
+-->
+
+<project>
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+  <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
+  <artifactId>standalone-pom</artifactId>
+  <version>1</version>
+  <packaging>pom</packaging>
+</project>
diff --git a/maven-model-builder/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/pom-4.0.0.xml b/maven-model-builder/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/pom-4.0.0.xml
index 14693391ae..f7d431f300 100644
--- a/maven-model-builder/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/pom-4.0.0.xml
+++ b/maven-model-builder/src/main/resources/org/apache/maven/project/pom-4.0.0.xml
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
 <!--
 Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
 or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
@@ -20,10 +22,7 @@ under the License.
 <!-- START SNIPPET: superpom -->
 <project>
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
-  <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
-  <artifactId>super-pom</artifactId>
-  <version>3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
-  <name>Maven Default Project</name>
+
   <repositories>
     <repository>
       <id>central</id>
@@ -155,4 +154,4 @@ under the License.
     <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/site</outputDirectory>
   </reporting>
 </project>
-  <!-- END SNIPPET: superpom -->
+<!-- END SNIPPET: superpom -->