diff --git a/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/pom.xml b/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/pom.xml
index f888446f5a..7f7f307582 100644
--- a/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/pom.xml
+++ b/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/pom.xml
@@ -1,31 +1,23 @@
-<model>
+<project>
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>maven</groupId>
   <artifactId>pom-pre-alpha-converter</artifactId>
-  <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <version>1.0</version>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>maven</groupId>
       <artifactId>maven-model</artifactId>
       <version>2.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
-      <type>jar</type>
-      <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>maven</groupId>
       <artifactId>maven-model</artifactId>
       <version>4.0.0-pre-alpha1</version>
-      <type>jar</type>
-      <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>plexus</groupId>
       <artifactId>plexus-utils</artifactId>
       <version>1.0-alpha-1</version>
-      <type>jar</type>
-      <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
-  <reports />
-</model>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>
diff --git a/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/tools/converter/Main.java b/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/tools/converter/Main.java
index 575a298727..5f100e1fdd 100755
--- a/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/tools/converter/Main.java
+++ b/sandbox/pom-pre-alpha-converter/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/tools/converter/Main.java
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ public class Main
             if ( reverse )
             {
                 FileUtils.copyFile( backup, file );
+                backup.delete();
             }
             else
             {
@@ -81,6 +82,11 @@ public class Main
 
                 try
                 {
+                    if ( backup.exists() )
+                    {
+                        System.err.println( "skipping... backup exists" );
+                    }
+
                     FileReader fileReader = new FileReader( file );
                     Model model = reader.read( fileReader );
                     fileReader.close();