diff --git a/publish-maven.gradle b/publish-maven.gradle
index 98c813c..44c6719 100644
--- a/publish-maven.gradle
+++ b/publish-maven.gradle
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
 apply plugin: 'maven'
 
-ext.optionalDeps = []
-ext.providedDeps = []
-
-ext.optional = { optionalDeps << it }
-ext.provided = { providedDeps << it }
-
 install {
 	repositories.mavenInstaller {
 		customizePom(pom, project)
@@ -14,19 +8,16 @@ install {
 
 def customizePom(pom, gradleProject) {
 	pom.whenConfigured { generatedPom ->
-		// respect 'optional' and 'provided' dependencies
-		gradleProject.optionalDeps.each { dep ->
-			generatedPom.dependencies.find { it.artifactId == dep.name }?.optional = true
-		}
-		gradleProject.providedDeps.each { dep ->
-			generatedPom.dependencies.find { it.artifactId == dep.name }?.scope = 'provided'
-		}
-
 		// eliminate test-scoped dependencies (no need in maven central poms)
 		generatedPom.dependencies.removeAll { dep ->
 			dep.scope == 'test'
 		}
 
+		// Ensure consistent ordering of dependencies to ease comparison with older poms
+		generatedPom.dependencies = generatedPom.dependencies.sort { dep ->
+			"$dep.scope:$dep.groupId:$dep.artifactId"
+		}
+
 		// add all items necessary for maven central publication
 		generatedPom.project {
 			name = gradleProject.description
diff --git a/spring-service-connector/build.gradle b/spring-service-connector/build.gradle
index a59327f..3148e21 100644
--- a/spring-service-connector/build.gradle
+++ b/spring-service-connector/build.gradle
@@ -15,33 +15,29 @@ dependencies {
 
   testRuntime("javax.mail:javax.mail-api:$javaxMailVersion")
 
-  compile("org.springframework:spring-jdbc:$springVersion", optional)
-  compile("org.springframework:spring-context-support:$springVersion", optional)
-  compile("org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-jdbc:$tomcatVersion", optional)
-  compile("org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-dbcp:$tomcatVersion", optional)
-  compile("org.apache.commons:commons-dbcp2:$commonDbcp2Version") {
-    optional
+  optional("org.springframework:spring-jdbc:$springVersion")
+  optional("org.springframework:spring-context-support:$springVersion")
+  optional("org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-jdbc:$tomcatVersion")
+  optional("org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-dbcp:$tomcatVersion")
+  optional("org.apache.commons:commons-dbcp2:$commonDbcp2Version") {
     exclude(module: 'commons-logging')
     exclude(module: 'xerces')
     exclude(module: 'xercesImpl')
     exclude(module: 'xml-apis')
   }
-  compile("commons-dbcp:commons-dbcp:$commonDbcpVersion") {
-    optional
+  optional("commons-dbcp:commons-dbcp:$commonDbcpVersion") {
     exclude(module: 'commons-logging')
     exclude(module: 'xerces')
     exclude(module: 'xercesImpl')
     exclude(module: 'xml-apis')
   }
-  compile("org.springframework.amqp:spring-rabbit:$springAmqpVersion", optional)
-  compile("org.springframework.data:spring-data-redis:$springDataRedisVersion") {
-    optional
+  optional("org.springframework.amqp:spring-rabbit:$springAmqpVersion")
+  optional("org.springframework.data:spring-data-redis:$springDataRedisVersion") {
     exclude(module: 'spring-context-support')
   }
-  compile("redis.clients:jedis:$jedisVersion", optional)
+  optional("redis.clients:jedis:$jedisVersion")
 
-  compile("org.springframework.data:spring-data-mongodb:$springDataMongoVersion") {
-    optional
+  optional("org.springframework.data:spring-data-mongodb:$springDataMongoVersion") {
     exclude(module: 'spring-beans')
     exclude(module: 'spring-expression')
     exclude(module: 'spring-tx')