diff --git a/ear/src/plugin-test/maven.xml b/ear/src/plugin-test/maven.xml
index 0738c40f..6ab2261a 100644
--- a/ear/src/plugin-test/maven.xml
+++ b/ear/src/plugin-test/maven.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
  -->
-<project xmlns:j="jelly:core" xmlns:u="jelly:util" xmlns:x="jelly:xml" xmlns:j2ee="j2ee">
+<project xmlns:j="jelly:core" 
+         xmlns:u="jelly:util" 
+         xmlns:x="jelly:xml"
+         xmlns:assert="assert"
+         xmlns:j2ee="j2ee">
 
   <goal name="testPlugin" prereqs="test-ear">
     <attainGoal name="clean"/>
@@ -25,12 +29,7 @@
     <attainGoal name="ear"/>
 
     <!-- tests that the ear is generated -->
-    <j:set var="expectedFile" 
-      value="${maven.build.dir}/test-maven-ear-plugin-1.0-SNAPSHOT.ear"/>
-    <u:file var="file" name="${expectedFile}" />
-    <j:if test="${!(file.exists())}">
-      <fail>${expectedFile} not generated</fail>
-    </j:if>
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${maven.build.dir}/test-maven-ear-plugin-1.0-SNAPSHOT.ear"/>
     
     <!-- unzip the ear and look for the jars -->
     <j:set var="earFile" 
@@ -38,18 +37,14 @@
     <j:set var="unzipDir" value= "${maven.build.dir}/eartest"/>
     <mkdir dir="${unzipDir}"/>
     <unzip src="${earFile}" dest="${unzipDir}"/>
+
     <!-- check for commons-logging -->
-    <j:set var="expectedFile" value="${unzipDir}/commons-logging-1.0.3.jar"/>
-    <u:file var="file" name="${expectedFile}" />
-    <j:if test="${!(file.exists())}">
-      <fail>${expectedFile} not bundled</fail>
-    </j:if>
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${unzipDir}/commons-logging-1.0.3.jar"
+      msg="commons logging was not bundled"/>
+    
     <!-- check for commons-collections -->
-    <j:set var="expectedFile" value="${unzipDir}/commons-collections-2.1.jar"/>
-    <u:file var="file" name="${expectedFile}" />
-    <j:if test="${!(file.exists())}">
-      <fail>${expectedFile} not bundled</fail>
-    </j:if>
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${unzipDir}/commons-collections-2.1.jar"
+      msg="commons collections was not bundled"/>
 
     <!-- check application.xml got a java module in it -->
     <u:file var="appXml" name="${unzipDir}/META-INF/application.xml"/>
@@ -59,18 +54,16 @@
     <x:parse var="applicationDoc" xml="${appXml.toURL()}" SAXReader="${saxReader}" />
     <x:set var="firstJavaModule" select="string($applicationDoc/application/module/java)"/>
 
-    <j:if test="${firstJavaModule != 'commons-collections-2.1.jar'}">
-      <fail>
-        commons-collections-2.1.jar not bundled as a java module found '${firstJavaModule}' instead
-      </fail>
-    </j:if>
+    <assert:assertEquals 
+      expected="commons-collections-2.1.jar" 
+      value="${firstJavaModule}"
+      msg="commons collections was not the first java module"/>
 
     <!-- check for resources -->
-    <j:set var="expectedFile" value="${unzipDir}/resource.txt"/>
-    <u:file var="file" name="${expectedFile}" />
-    <j:if test="${!(file.exists())}">
-      <fail>${expectedFile} not bundled as a resource</fail>
-    </j:if>
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${unzipDir}/resource.txt"/>
+
+    <!-- check for the LICENSE -->
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${unzipDir}/META-INF/LICENSE.txt"/>
 
   </goal>
 </project>
diff --git a/ear/src/plugin-test/project.properties b/ear/src/plugin-test/project.properties
index 20d24bc0..ee45d71b 100644
--- a/ear/src/plugin-test/project.properties
+++ b/ear/src/plugin-test/project.properties
@@ -17,3 +17,6 @@
 maven.deployable.component=${maven.final.name}.ear
 maven.j2ee.ear.appxml=${maven.conf.dir}/application.xml
 maven.ear.appxml.generate=true
+# note the override below is needed, as the ear plugin redefines the licenseFile in
+# it's own project.properties, and running plugin:test would otherwise fail
+maven.license.licenseFile=${basedir}/LICENSE.txt
\ No newline at end of file