diff --git a/org.springframework.integration.http/pom.xml b/org.springframework.integration.http/pom.xml
index 6f5c597708..4064120cc1 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration.http/pom.xml
+++ b/org.springframework.integration.http/pom.xml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
       <groupId>commons-httpclient</groupId>
       <artifactId>commons-httpclient</artifactId>
       <version>3.1</version>
-      <scope>compile</scope>
+      <optional>true</optional>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.easymock</groupId>