diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenBuildSystem.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenBuildSystem.java
index 0b322e6..c9a4537 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenBuildSystem.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenBuildSystem.java
@@ -219,12 +219,12 @@ class MavenBuildSystem implements BuildSystem {
 		Project project = module.getProject();
 		UpdateInformation information = new UpdateInformation(module.getTrainIteration(), phase);
 
-		mvn.execute(project, "versions-set",
+		mvn.execute(project, "versions:set", "versions:commit",
 				"-DnewVersion=".concat(information.getProjectVersionToSet(project).toString()));
 
 		if (BUILD.equals(project)) {
 
-			mvn.execute(project, "versions-set", //
+			mvn.execute(project, "versions:set", //
 					"-DnewVersion=".concat(information.getReleaseTrainVersion()), //
 					"-DgroupId=org.springframework.data", //
 					"-DartifactId=spring-data-releasetrain");
@@ -272,13 +272,6 @@ class MavenBuildSystem implements BuildSystem {
 		return isMavenProject(project);
 	}
 
-	private void updateVersion(ModuleIteration iteration, File workingDirectory) {
-
-		ArtifactVersion version = ArtifactVersion.of(iteration);
-
-		mvn.execute(iteration.getProject(), "versions-set", "-DnewVersion=".concat(version.toString()));
-	}
-
 	private boolean isMavenProject(Project project) {
 		return workspace.getFile(POM_XML, project).exists();
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenProperties.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenProperties.java
index 7c7460b..f1a3672 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenProperties.java
@@ -68,6 +68,17 @@ class MavenProperties {
 	public String getFullyQualifiedPlugin(String goal) {
 
 		Assert.hasText(goal, "Goal must not be null or empty!");
-		return plugins.containsKey(goal) ? plugins.get(goal) : goal;
+
+		if (goal.startsWith("-")) {
+			return goal;
+		}
+
+		String[] parts = goal.split(":");
+
+		if (parts.length != 2 || !plugins.containsKey(parts[0])) {
+			return goal;
+		}
+
+		return plugins.get(parts[0]).concat(":").concat(parts[1]);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenRuntime.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenRuntime.java
index 9127240..30678a2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenRuntime.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenRuntime.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package org.springframework.data.release.build;
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
@@ -87,9 +86,9 @@ class MavenRuntime {
 		request.setShellEnvironmentInherited(true);
 		request.setBaseDirectory(workspace.getProjectDirectory(project));
 
-		List<String> goals = new ArrayList<>();
-		goals.add(properties.getFullyQualifiedPlugin(arguments.get(0)));
-		goals.addAll(arguments.subList(1, arguments.size()));
+		List<String> goals = arguments.stream()//
+				.map(argument -> properties.getFullyQualifiedPlugin(argument))//
+				.collect(Collectors.toList());
 
 		request.setGoals(goals);
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 3e2fb8d..2ef0c37 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ io.work-dir=~/temp/spring-data-shell/workspace
 
 # Maven setup
 maven.localRepository=~/temp/spring-data-shell/repository
-maven.plugins.versions-set=org.codehaus.mojo:versions-maven-plugin:2.2:set
-maven.plugins.artifactory-deploy=org.jfrog.buildinfo:artifactory-maven-plugin:2.4.0:publish
+maven.plugins.versions=org.codehaus.mojo:versions-maven-plugin:2.2
 
 deployment.server.uri=https://repo.spring.io
 deployment.staging-repository=libs-staging-local
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenPropertiesUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenPropertiesUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46245d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/release/build/MavenPropertiesUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.release.build;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link MavenProperties}.
+ * 
+ * @author Oliver Gierke
+ */
+public class MavenPropertiesUnitTests {
+
+	MavenProperties properties;
+
+	@Before
+	public void setUp() {
+
+		this.properties = new MavenProperties();
+		this.properties.setPlugins(Collections.singletonMap("versions", "org.codehaus.mojo:versions-maven-plugin:2.2"));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @see #8
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void expandsGoalsCorrectly() {
+
+		assertThat(properties.getFullyQualifiedPlugin("versions:set"),
+				is("org.codehaus.mojo:versions-maven-plugin:2.2:set"));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @see #8
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void doesNotExpandGoalStartingWithDash() {
+		assertThat(properties.getFullyQualifiedPlugin("-versions:set"), is("-versions:set"));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @see #8
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void doesNotExpandGoalWithoutColon() {
+		assertThat(properties.getFullyQualifiedPlugin("versions-set"), is("versions-set"));
+	}
+}