diff --git a/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilder.java b/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilder.java
index 7bbedf124b..37e610c7d1 100644
--- a/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilder.java
+++ b/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilder.java
@@ -63,6 +63,24 @@ public class DefaultSettingsBuilder
 
     private MavenSettingsMerger settingsMerger = new MavenSettingsMerger();
 
+    public DefaultSettingsBuilder setSettingsReader( SettingsReader settingsReader )
+    {
+        this.settingsReader = settingsReader;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public DefaultSettingsBuilder setSettingsWriter( SettingsWriter settingsWriter )
+    {
+        this.settingsWriter = settingsWriter;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public DefaultSettingsBuilder setSettingsValidator( SettingsValidator settingsValidator )
+    {
+        this.settingsValidator = settingsValidator;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public SettingsBuildingResult build( SettingsBuildingRequest request )
         throws SettingsBuildingException
     {
diff --git a/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilderFactory.java b/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilderFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cb7d4c5c4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-settings-builder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilderFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package org.apache.maven.settings.building;
+
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+import org.apache.maven.settings.io.DefaultSettingsReader;
+import org.apache.maven.settings.io.DefaultSettingsWriter;
+import org.apache.maven.settings.io.SettingsReader;
+import org.apache.maven.settings.io.SettingsWriter;
+import org.apache.maven.settings.validation.DefaultSettingsValidator;
+import org.apache.maven.settings.validation.SettingsValidator;
+
+/**
+ * A factory to create settings builder instances when no dependency injection is available. <em>Note:</em> This class
+ * is only meant as a utility for developers that want to employ the settings builder outside of the Maven build system,
+ * Maven plugins should always acquire settings builder instances via dependency injection. Developers might want to
+ * subclass this factory to provide custom implementations for some of the components used by the settings builder.
+ * 
+ * @author Benjamin Bentmann
+ */
+public class DefaultSettingsBuilderFactory
+{
+
+    protected SettingsReader newSettingsReader()
+    {
+        return new DefaultSettingsReader();
+    }
+
+    protected SettingsWriter newSettingsWriter()
+    {
+        return new DefaultSettingsWriter();
+    }
+
+    protected SettingsValidator newSettingsValidator()
+    {
+        return new DefaultSettingsValidator();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new settings builder instance.
+     * 
+     * @return The new settings builder instance, never {@code null}.
+     */
+    public DefaultSettingsBuilder newInstance()
+    {
+        DefaultSettingsBuilder builder = new DefaultSettingsBuilder();
+
+        builder.setSettingsReader( newSettingsReader() );
+        builder.setSettingsWriter( newSettingsWriter() );
+        builder.setSettingsValidator( newSettingsValidator() );
+
+        return builder;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/maven-settings-builder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilderFactoryTest.java b/maven-settings-builder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilderFactoryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..722abf3251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-settings-builder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/settings/building/DefaultSettingsBuilderFactoryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package org.apache.maven.settings.building;
+
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+import java.io.File;
+
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
+/**
+ * @author Benjamin Bentmann
+ */
+public class DefaultSettingsBuilderFactoryTest
+    extends TestCase
+{
+
+    private File getSettings( String name )
+    {
+        return new File( "src/test/resources/settings/factory/" + name + ".xml" ).getAbsoluteFile();
+    }
+
+    public void testCompleteWiring()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        SettingsBuilder builder = new DefaultSettingsBuilderFactory().newInstance();
+        assertNotNull( builder );
+
+        DefaultSettingsBuildingRequest request = new DefaultSettingsBuildingRequest();
+        request.setSystemProperties( System.getProperties() );
+        request.setUserSettingsFile( getSettings( "simple" ) );
+
+        SettingsBuildingResult result = builder.build( request );
+        assertNotNull( result );
+        assertNotNull( result.getEffectiveSettings() );
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/maven-settings-builder/src/test/resources/settings/factory/simple.xml b/maven-settings-builder/src/test/resources/settings/factory/simple.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea664bacdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-settings-builder/src/test/resources/settings/factory/simple.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?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.
+-->
+
+<settings>
+  <localRepository>${user.home}/.m2/repository</localRepository>
+</settings>