diff --git a/jetty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/maven/plugin/AbstractJettyMojo.java b/jetty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/maven/plugin/AbstractJettyMojo.java
index 558899c1819..4e976f42118 100644
--- a/jetty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/maven/plugin/AbstractJettyMojo.java
+++ b/jetty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/maven/plugin/AbstractJettyMojo.java
@@ -449,12 +449,28 @@ public abstract class AbstractJettyMojo extends AbstractMojo
     {
         if (getJettyXmlFiles() == null)
             return;
-        
+
+        XmlConfiguration last = null;
         for ( File xmlFile : getJettyXmlFiles() )
         {
             getLog().info( "Configuring Jetty from xml configuration file = " + xmlFile.getCanonicalPath() );        
             XmlConfiguration xmlConfiguration = new XmlConfiguration(Resource.toURL(xmlFile));
-            xmlConfiguration.configure(this.server);
+            
+            //chain ids from one config file to another
+            if (last == null)
+                xmlConfiguration.getIdMap().put("Server", this.server); 
+            else
+                xmlConfiguration.getIdMap().putAll(last.getIdMap());
+            
+            //Set the system properties each time in case the config file set a new one
+            Enumeration<?> ensysprop = System.getProperties().propertyNames();
+            while (ensysprop.hasMoreElements())
+            {
+                String name = (String)ensysprop.nextElement();
+                xmlConfiguration.getProperties().put(name,System.getProperty(name));
+            }
+            last = xmlConfiguration;
+            xmlConfiguration.configure(); 
         }
     }