diff --git a/checkstyle/plugin.jelly b/checkstyle/plugin.jelly
index face0104..9f258895 100644
--- a/checkstyle/plugin.jelly
+++ b/checkstyle/plugin.jelly
@@ -46,20 +46,28 @@
 
     <j:if test="${sourcesPresent == 'true'}">
 
-      <!-- If an explicit config file is set then use that. If one isn't 
+      <!-- If an explicit config file or URL is set then use that. If one isn't 
       	   then we will look for the maven.checkstyle.format property and
       	   load the predefined config set. -->
       <j:set var="checkstylePropertiesX" value="${maven.checkstyle.properties}X"/>
+      <j:set var="checkstylePropertiesURLX" value="${maven.checkstyle.propertiesURL}X"/>
       <j:choose>
         <j:when test="${checkstylePropertiesX != 'X'}">
-          <j:set 
-            var="checkstyleProperties" 
-            value="${maven.checkstyle.properties}"/>
+          <j:set
+            var="checkstyleProperties"
+            value="file:${maven.checkstyle.properties}"/>
+          <util:replace oldChar="\\" newChar="/" value="${checkstyleProperties}" var="checkstyleProperties" />
+        </j:when>
+        <j:when test="${checkstylePropertiesURLX != 'X'}">
+          <j:set
+            var="checkstyleProperties"
+            value="${maven.checkstyle.propertiesURL}"/>
         </j:when>
         <j:otherwise>
-          <j:set 
-            var="checkstyleProperties" 
-            value="${plugin.resources}/${maven.checkstyle.format}_checks.xml"/>
+          <j:set
+            var="checkstyleProperties"
+            value="file:///${plugin.resources}/${maven.checkstyle.format}_checks.xml"/>
+          <util:replace oldChar="\\" newChar="/" value="${checkstyleProperties}" var="checkstyleProperties" />
         </j:otherwise>
       </j:choose>
 
@@ -104,7 +112,7 @@
       =  ${maven.checkstyle.header.file}
       =  Checkstyle needs it to check the existence of the License in =
       =  your source files. If it can't find this file, it throws an  =
-      =  error.                                                       = 
+      =  error.                                                       =
       =  A temporary solution is to create an empty LICENSE.txt file. =
       =  Though, we recommend that you edit this License.             =
       =================================================================
@@ -129,7 +137,7 @@
     <ant:echo>Using ${checkstyleProperties} for checkstyle ...</ant:echo>
 
     <ant:checkstyle
-      config="${checkstyleProperties}"
+      configURL="${checkstyleProperties}"
       failOnViolation="${maven.checkstyle.fail.on.violation}">
 
       <property key="checkstyle.header.file" 
diff --git a/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml b/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml
index a9a733cb..7a3a6501 100644
--- a/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
   </properties>
   <body>
     <release version="2.4" date="in CVS">
+      <action dev="evenisse" type="update" issue="MPCHECKSTYLE-7">Allow Checkstyle plugin to access checks file from a URL.</action>
       <action dev="vmassol" type="update">Upgraded to Checkstyle 3.4.</action>
     </release>
     <release version="2.3" date="2004-03-11">
diff --git a/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml b/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml
index 45a38cd1..60100e3c 100644
--- a/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -70,6 +70,16 @@
             formats (see <code>maven.checkstyle.format</code>).
           </td>
         </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td>maven.checkstyle.propertiesURL</td>
+          <td>Yes</td>
+          <td>
+            Specifies the URL of the checkstyle properties that will be
+            used to check the source. Note that you will need to use this
+            property only if you don't want to use any of the predefined
+            formats (see <code>maven.checkstyle.format</code>).
+          </td>
+        </tr>
         <tr>
           <td>maven.checkstyle.header.file</td>
           <td>Yes</td>
