diff --git a/dev-tools/src/main/resources/license-check/check_license_and_sha.pl b/dev-tools/src/main/resources/license-check/check_license_and_sha.pl
index 553c7df0155..a72cc066856 100755
--- a/dev-tools/src/main/resources/license-check/check_license_and_sha.pl
+++ b/dev-tools/src/main/resources/license-check/check_license_and_sha.pl
@@ -215,8 +215,6 @@ sub jars_from_zip {
     $archive->extract( to => $dir_name ) || die $archive->error;
     my @jars = map { File::Spec->rel2abs( $_, $dir_name ) }
         grep { /\.jar$/ && !/elasticsearch[^\/]*$/ } @{ $archive->files };
-    die "No JARS found in: $source\n"
-        unless @jars;
     return calculate_shas(@jars);
 }
 
@@ -234,8 +232,6 @@ sub jars_from_dir {
         },
         $source
     );
-    die "No JARS found in: $source\n"
-        unless @jars;
     return calculate_shas(@jars);
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/delete-by-query/no_deps.txt b/plugins/delete-by-query/no_deps.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8cce254d037
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/delete-by-query/no_deps.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This plugin has no third party dependencies
diff --git a/plugins/delete-by-query/pom.xml b/plugins/delete-by-query/pom.xml
index e478a501a2e..62ee8fdb9b1 100644
--- a/plugins/delete-by-query/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/delete-by-query/pom.xml
@@ -38,17 +38,6 @@ governing permissions and limitations under the License. -->
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
             </plugin>
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <!-- Don't run the license checker in delete-by-query -->
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>none</phase>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
-            </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
 
diff --git a/plugins/mapper-size/no_deps.txt b/plugins/mapper-size/no_deps.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8cce254d037
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/mapper-size/no_deps.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This plugin has no third party dependencies
diff --git a/plugins/mapper-size/pom.xml b/plugins/mapper-size/pom.xml
index 83e3f84708e..cdbb869a702 100644
--- a/plugins/mapper-size/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/mapper-size/pom.xml
@@ -37,17 +37,6 @@ governing permissions and limitations under the License. -->
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
             </plugin>
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <!-- Don't run the license checker in mapper-size -->
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>none</phase>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
-            </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
 
diff --git a/plugins/site-example/no_deps.txt b/plugins/site-example/no_deps.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8cce254d037
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/site-example/no_deps.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+This plugin has no third party dependencies
diff --git a/plugins/site-example/pom.xml b/plugins/site-example/pom.xml
index f6b6c3cdb34..15060e0bd52 100644
--- a/plugins/site-example/pom.xml
+++ b/plugins/site-example/pom.xml
@@ -42,17 +42,6 @@
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
-            <plugin>
-                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-                <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-                <executions>
-                    <execution>
-                        <!-- Don't run the license checker in site example -->
-                        <id>check-license</id>
-                        <phase>none</phase>
-                    </execution>
-                </executions>
-            </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>