diff --git a/maven-plugins/maven-war-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java b/maven-plugins/maven-war-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java
index 70e430a408..ddc22dc188 100644
--- a/maven-plugins/maven-war-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java
+++ b/maven-plugins/maven-war-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/war/AbstractWarMojo.java
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractWarMojo
 
         File webappClassesDirectory = new File( webappDirectory, WEB_INF + "/classes" );
 
-        if ( getClassesDirectory().exists() )
+        if ( getClassesDirectory().exists() && (!getClassesDirectory().equals(webappClassesDirectory)))
         {
             FileUtils.copyDirectoryStructure( getClassesDirectory(), webappClassesDirectory );
         }