diff --git a/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/annotation-processing-test/pom.xml b/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/annotation-processing-test/pom.xml
index 28af86134..874f6c9fa 100644
--- a/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/annotation-processing-test/pom.xml
+++ b/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/annotation-processing-test/pom.xml
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
         <configuration>
           <!-- http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/ -->
-          <source>7</source>
-          <target>7</target>
+          <source>8</source>
+          <target>8</target>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
       <plugin>
diff --git a/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/pom.xml b/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/pom.xml
index 2405ca0df..48ea7d911 100644
--- a/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/pom.xml
+++ b/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/pom.xml
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                 <configuration>
-                    <source>7</source>
-                    <target>7</target>
+                    <source>8</source>
+                    <target>8</target>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
             
diff --git a/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/validate.groovy b/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/validate.groovy
index 1567d6d78..258b32fa2 100644
--- a/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/validate.groovy
+++ b/plexus-component-metadata/src/it/descriptor-1/validate.groovy
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 def file = new File(basedir, 'target/classes/META-INF/plexus/components.xml')
 assert file.exists()
 
-def componentSet = new XmlParser().parse(file)
+def componentSet = new groovy.xml.XmlParser().parse(file)
 
 assert componentSet.components.component.size() == 2
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 90d206596..6dd127c1c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     <xbeanReflectVersion>4.22</xbeanReflectVersion>
     <mavenVersion>3.2.5</mavenVersion>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-    <javaVersion>7</javaVersion>
+    <javaVersion>8</javaVersion>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>