diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/pom.xml b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/pom.xml
index 678d9bf343..b404423ddb 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-tools/spring-cloud-contract-gradle-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 		<project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
 		<gradle.task>build</gradle.task>
 		<build-helper-maven-plugin.phase>package</build-helper-maven-plugin.phase>
+		<gradle-exec-maven-plugin.version>1.5.0</gradle-exec-maven-plugin.version>
 	</properties>
 
 	<dependencies>
@@ -113,7 +114,8 @@
 					<plugin>
 						<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
 						<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-						<version>${exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
+						<!-- we need a different version so as not to inherit from parent -->
+						<version>${gradle-exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
 						<executions>
 							<execution>
 								<id>gradle</id>
@@ -147,7 +149,8 @@
 					<plugin>
 						<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
 						<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-						<version>${exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
+						<!-- we need a different version so as not to inherit from parent -->
+						<version>${gradle-exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
 						<executions>
 							<execution>
 								<id>gradle</id>
@@ -179,7 +182,8 @@
 					<plugin>
 						<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
 						<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-						<version>${exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
+						<!-- we need a different version so as not to inherit from parent -->
+						<version>${gradle-exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
 						<executions>
 							<execution>
 								<id>gradle</id>
@@ -212,7 +216,8 @@
 					<plugin>
 						<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
 						<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-						<version>${exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
+						<!-- we need a different version so as not to inherit from parent -->
+						<version>${gradle-exec-maven-plugin.version}</version>
 						<executions>
 							<execution>
 								<id>gradle</id>