diff --git a/bootstrap/bootstrap-installer/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bootstrap/installer/BootstrapInstaller.java b/bootstrap/bootstrap-installer/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bootstrap/installer/BootstrapInstaller.java
index 3ce6e2bf2c..ff34e21b77 100644
--- a/bootstrap/bootstrap-installer/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bootstrap/installer/BootstrapInstaller.java
+++ b/bootstrap/bootstrap-installer/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/bootstrap/installer/BootstrapInstaller.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ import java.util.Iterator;
  */
 public class BootstrapInstaller
 {
+    private static final String MAVEN_GROUPID = "org.apache.maven";
+
     private final Bootstrap bootstrapper;
 
     private final String prefix;
@@ -117,7 +119,7 @@ public class BootstrapInstaller
 
         bootstrapper.buildProject( new File( basedir ), true );
 
-        Model mavenCliModel = bootstrapper.getCachedModel( "org.apache.maven", "maven-cli" );
+        Model mavenCliModel = bootstrapper.getCachedModel( MAVEN_GROUPID, "maven-cli" );
 
         File installation = new File( basedir, "bootstrap/target/installation" );
         createInstallation( installation, mavenCliModel );
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultRuntimeInformation.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultRuntimeInformation.java
index bb40ebb9ad..e28ca30a9a 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultRuntimeInformation.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/execution/DefaultRuntimeInformation.java
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ import java.util.Properties;
 public class DefaultRuntimeInformation
     implements RuntimeInformation, Initializable
 {
+    private static final String MAVEN_GROUPID = "org.apache.maven";
+    
+    private static final String MAVEN_PROPERTIES = "META-INF/maven/" + MAVEN_GROUPID + "/maven-core/pom.properties";
+
     private ArtifactVersion applicationVersion;
 
     public ArtifactVersion getApplicationVersion()
@@ -49,8 +53,12 @@ public class DefaultRuntimeInformation
         try
         {
             Properties properties = new Properties();
-            resourceAsStream = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(
-                "META-INF/maven/org.apache.maven/maven-core/pom.properties" );
+            resourceAsStream = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream( MAVEN_PROPERTIES );
+            
+            if ( resourceAsStream == null )
+            {
+                throw new IllegalStateException( "Unable to find Maven properties in classpath: " + MAVEN_PROPERTIES );
+            }
             properties.load( resourceAsStream );
 
             String property = properties.getProperty( "version" );