diff --git a/xmlunit2/pom.xml b/xmlunit2/pom.xml
index c80e3f37b2..d4364292d6 100644
--- a/xmlunit2/pom.xml
+++ b/xmlunit2/pom.xml
@@ -5,42 +5,56 @@
 	<artifactId>xmlunit2</artifactId>
 	<version>1.0</version>
 	<name>XMLUnit-2</name>
-   <build>
-    <plugins>
-      <plugin>
-        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>3.3</version>
-        <configuration>
-          <source>7</source>
-          <target>7</target>
-        </configuration>
-      </plugin>
-    </plugins>
-  </build>
+
+      <build>
+          <plugins>
+              <plugin>
+                  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+                  <version>${maven-compiler-plugin.version}</version>
+                  <configuration>
+                      <source>1.8</source>
+                      <target>1.8</target>
+                  </configuration>
+              </plugin>
+          </plugins>
+      </build>
+
 	<dependencies>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>junit</groupId>
 			<artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-			<version>4.3</version>
+			<version>${junit.version}</version>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
 			<artifactId>hamcrest-all</artifactId>
-			<version>1.3</version>
+			<version>${hamcrest.version}</version>
 		</dependency>
-<dependency>
-    <groupId>org.xmlunit</groupId>
-    <artifactId>xmlunit-matchers</artifactId>
-    <version>2.2.1</version>
-</dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.xmlunit</groupId>
+                <artifactId>xmlunit-matchers</artifactId>
+                <version>${xmlunit.version}</version>
+             </dependency>
 
-<dependency>
-    <groupId>org.xmlunit</groupId>
-    <artifactId>xmlunit-core</artifactId>
-    <version>2.2.1</version>
-</dependency>
+            <dependency>
+                <groupId>org.xmlunit</groupId>
+                <artifactId>xmlunit-core</artifactId>
+                <version>${xmlunit.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
 
 	</dependencies>
+
+      <properties>
+
+        <!-- testing -->
+        <junit.version>4.12</junit.version>
+        <hamcrest.version>1.3</hamcrest.version>
+        <xmlunit.version>2.3.0</xmlunit.version>
+
+        <!-- Maven plugins -->
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
+
+    </properties>
 </project>