diff --git a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PomUpdater.java b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PomUpdater.java
index e602afe2..f368be4e 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PomUpdater.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PomUpdater.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import org.codehaus.mojo.versions.rewriting.ModifiedPomXMLEventReader;
 import org.codehaus.stax2.XMLInputFactory2;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 import static org.springframework.util.StringUtils.hasText;
 import static org.springframework.util.StringUtils.isEmpty;
@@ -324,6 +325,10 @@ class PropertyStorer {
 
 	private boolean setPropertyVersion(String propertyName, String version) {
 		try {
+			if (StringUtils.isEmpty(version)) {
+				this.log.warn("Version for [" + propertyName + "] is empty. Will not set it");
+				return false;
+			}
 			return PomHelper.setPropertyVersion(this.pom, null, propertyName, version);
 		}
 		catch (XMLStreamException e) {
diff --git a/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PropertyStorerTests.java b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PropertyStorerTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3475ddb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-release-tools-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/release/internal/pom/PropertyStorerTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package org.springframework.cloud.release.internal.pom;
+
+import org.apache.maven.plugin.logging.Log;
+import org.codehaus.mojo.versions.rewriting.ModifiedPomXMLEventReader;
+import org.hamcrest.Description;
+import org.hamcrest.TypeSafeMatcher;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.BDDMockito;
+import org.mockito.InjectMocks;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+
+import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.then;
+
+/**
+ * @author Marcin Grzejszczak
+ */
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class PropertyStorerTests {
+
+	@Mock Log log;
+	@Mock ModifiedPomXMLEventReader pom;
+	@InjectMocks PropertyStorer propertyStorer;
+
+	@Test public void should_not_set_a_version_when_its_empty() throws Exception {
+		this.propertyStorer.setPropertyVersionIfApplicable(new Project("foo", ""));
+
+		then(this.log).should().warn(containsWarnMsgAboutEmptyVersion());
+	}
+
+	private String containsWarnMsgAboutEmptyVersion() {
+		return BDDMockito.argThat(new TypeSafeMatcher<String>() {
+			@Override protected boolean matchesSafely(String item) {
+				return item.contains("is empty. Will not set it");
+			}
+
+			@Override public void describeTo(Description description) {
+
+			}
+		});
+	}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file