diff --git a/maven-mboot2/src/main/java/MBoot.java b/maven-mboot2/src/main/java/MBoot.java
index eff2523611..7bd5722b33 100644
--- a/maven-mboot2/src/main/java/MBoot.java
+++ b/maven-mboot2/src/main/java/MBoot.java
@@ -153,7 +153,11 @@ public class MBoot
         {
             userModelReader.parse( settingsXml );
 
-            mavenRepoLocal = userModelReader.getLocalRepository();
+            if ( mavenRepoLocal != null )
+            {
+                // user don't override mavenRepoLocal with maven.repo.local system property
+                mavenRepoLocal = userModelReader.getLocalRepository();
+            }
         }
 
         if ( mavenRepoLocal == null )