diff --git a/distribution/deb/pom.xml b/distribution/deb/pom.xml
index 34fc6c95b8d..cbe2631cf8a 100644
--- a/distribution/deb/pom.xml
+++ b/distribution/deb/pom.xml
@@ -256,30 +256,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.8</version>
                 <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>verify</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>run</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <target>
-                                <condition property="licenses.exists">
-                                    <available file="${basedir}/../licenses" type="dir"/>
-                                </condition>
-                                <echo taskName="license check">Running license check</echo>
-                                <!-- on windows checksums are calculated wrong -->
-                                <exec failonerror="${licenses.exists}" executable="perl" dir="${elasticsearch.tools.directory}/license-check" osfamily="unix" >
-                                    <arg value="check_license_and_sha.pl"/>
-                                    <arg value="--check"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/../licenses"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/target/releases/${project.build.finalName}.deb"/>
-                                </exec>
-                            </target>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
                     <!-- start up external cluster -->
                     <execution>
                         <id>integ-setup</id>
diff --git a/distribution/pom.xml b/distribution/pom.xml
index 0190c3b38c3..082d207855a 100644
--- a/distribution/pom.xml
+++ b/distribution/pom.xml
@@ -97,8 +97,32 @@
                 <plugin>
                     <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                     <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                    <!-- <version>1.8</version> -->
-                    <!-- <configuration><skip>true</skip></configuration> -->
+                    <!-- checks integration test scratch area (where we extract the distribution) -->
+                    <executions>
+                        <execution>
+                            <id>check-license</id>
+                            <phase>verify</phase>
+                            <goals>
+                                <goal>run</goal>
+                            </goals>
+                            <configuration>
+                                <skip>${skip.integ.tests}</skip>
+                                <target>
+                                    <condition property="licenses.exists">
+                                        <available file="${basedir}/../licenses" type="dir"/>
+                                    </condition>
+                                    <echo taskName="license check">Running license check</echo>
+                                    <exec failonerror="${licenses.exists}" executable="perl"
+                                          dir="${elasticsearch.tools.directory}/license-check">
+                                        <arg value="check_license_and_sha.pl"/>
+                                        <arg value="--check"/>
+                                        <arg value="${basedir}/../licenses"/>
+                                        <arg value="${integ.scratch}"/>
+                                    </exec>
+                                </target>
+                            </configuration>
+                        </execution>
+                    </executions>
                 </plugin>
                 <plugin>
                     <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
diff --git a/distribution/rpm/pom.xml b/distribution/rpm/pom.xml
index 8c80406f167..2e71b8011d9 100644
--- a/distribution/rpm/pom.xml
+++ b/distribution/rpm/pom.xml
@@ -311,32 +311,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.8</version>
                 <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>verify</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>run</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <!-- https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/12528 -->
-                            <skip>true</skip>
-                            <target>
-                                <condition property="licenses.exists">
-                                    <available file="${basedir}/../licenses" type="dir"/>
-                                </condition>
-                                <echo taskName="license check">Running license check</echo>
-                                <!-- on windows checksums are calculated wrong -->
-                                <exec failonerror="${licenses.exists}" executable="perl" dir="${elasticsearch.tools.directory}/license-check" osfamily="unix" >
-                                    <arg value="check_license_and_sha.pl"/>
-                                    <arg value="--check"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/../licenses"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/target/releases/${project.build.finalName}.rpm"/>
-                                </exec>
-                            </target>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
                     <!-- start up external cluster -->
                     <execution>
                         <id>integ-setup</id>
diff --git a/distribution/tar/pom.xml b/distribution/tar/pom.xml
index aea4f4875d8..641de8577c2 100644
--- a/distribution/tar/pom.xml
+++ b/distribution/tar/pom.xml
@@ -49,30 +49,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.8</version>
                 <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>verify</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>run</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <target>
-                                <condition property="licenses.exists">
-                                    <available file="${basedir}/../licenses" type="dir"/>
-                                </condition>
-                                <echo taskName="license check">Running license check</echo>
-                                <!-- on windows checksums are calculated wrong -->
-                                <exec failonerror="${licenses.exists}" executable="perl" dir="${elasticsearch.tools.directory}/license-check" osfamily="unix" >
-                                    <arg value="check_license_and_sha.pl"/>
-                                    <arg value="--check"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/../licenses"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/target/releases/${project.build.finalName}.tar.gz"/>
-                                </exec>
-                            </target>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
                     <!-- integration tests -->
                     <!-- start up external cluster -->
                     <execution>
diff --git a/distribution/zip/pom.xml b/distribution/zip/pom.xml
index c94a7bdd17d..b6b784a97fe 100644
--- a/distribution/zip/pom.xml
+++ b/distribution/zip/pom.xml
@@ -49,30 +49,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>1.8</version>
                 <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>verify</phase>
-                        <goals>
-                            <goal>run</goal>
-                        </goals>
-                        <configuration>
-                            <target>
-                                <condition property="licenses.exists">
-                                    <available file="${basedir}/../licenses" type="dir"/>
-                                </condition>
-                                <echo taskName="license check">Running license check</echo>
-                                <!-- on windows checksums are calculated wrong -->
-                                <exec failonerror="${licenses.exists}" executable="perl" dir="${elasticsearch.tools.directory}/license-check" osfamily="unix" >
-                                    <arg value="check_license_and_sha.pl"/>
-                                    <arg value="--check"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/../licenses"/>
-                                    <arg value="${basedir}/target/releases/${project.build.finalName}.zip"/>
-                                </exec>
-                            </target>
-                        </configuration>
-                    </execution>
                     <!-- execution and integration tests -->
                     <!-- start up elasticsearch in foreground -->
                     <execution>