diff --git a/maven-project/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.java b/maven-project/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.java
index 2f4f7671b1..e0848e8ce6 100644
--- a/maven-project/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.java
+++ b/maven-project/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/DefaultMavenProjectBuilder.java
@@ -406,13 +406,13 @@ public class DefaultMavenProjectBuilder
     {
 
         MavenProject project = new MavenProject( model, artifactFactory, mavenTools, this, config );
+        validateModel( model, pomFile );
 
         Artifact projectArtifact = artifactFactory.createBuildArtifact( project.getGroupId(), project.getArtifactId(),
                                                                         project.getVersion(), project.getPackaging() );
         project.setArtifact( projectArtifact );
         project.setParentFile( parentFile );
 
-        validateModel( model, pomFile );
         return project;
     }