diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 1159352cd5d..fd97470ec6c 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
+import java.nio.file.Path
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.RepositoryBuilder
 import org.gradle.plugins.ide.eclipse.model.SourceFolder
@@ -29,8 +30,9 @@ subprojects {
   description = "Elasticsearch subproject ${project.path}"
 }
 
+Path rootPath = rootDir.toPath()
 // setup pom license info, but only for artifacts that are part of elasticsearch
-configure(subprojects.findAll { it.path.startsWith(':x-plugins') == false }) {
+configure(subprojects.findAll { it.projectDir.toPath().startsWith(rootPath) }) {
 
   // we only use maven publish to add tasks for pom generation
   plugins.withType(MavenPublishPlugin).whenPluginAdded {