diff --git a/announcement/plugin.jelly b/announcement/plugin.jelly
index 60ca4f11..f72e735e 100644
--- a/announcement/plugin.jelly
+++ b/announcement/plugin.jelly
@@ -34,10 +34,6 @@
   <goal name="announcement:generate"
     description="Generate release announcement">
 
-    <j:if test="${context.getVariable('maven.announcement.version') == null}">
-      <ant:fail>The 'maven.announcement.version' property needs to be defined.</ant:fail>
-    </j:if>
-  
     <echo>Generating announcement for release ${maven.announcement.version} in ${maven.announcement.file}...</echo>
 
     <util:file var="inputFile" name="${maven.docs.src}/changes.xml"/>
diff --git a/announcement/plugin.properties b/announcement/plugin.properties
index e64ac796..7212c569 100644
--- a/announcement/plugin.properties
+++ b/announcement/plugin.properties
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@
 # Properties for the Announcement plugin
 # -------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-# Version for which to create a release note. This property needs to
-# be defined in your project. For example:
-maven.announcement.version = ${pom.version}
-maven.announcement.file=${maven.build.dir}/announcement.txt
\ No newline at end of file
+# Version for which to create a release note. If not defined, it 
+# defaults to ${pom.currentVersion}.
+# For example:
+# maven.announcement.version = ${pom.version}
+
+# Name and location of generated announcement file
+maven.announcement.file=${maven.build.dir}/announcement.txt
diff --git a/announcement/xdocs/changes.xml b/announcement/xdocs/changes.xml
index 949635aa..6d468fd1 100644
--- a/announcement/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/announcement/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@
     <author email="vmassol@apache.org">Vincent Massol</author>
   </properties>
   <body>
-    <release version="1.1" date="in CVS">
+    <release version="1.1-SNAPSHOT" date="in CVS">
+      <action dev="vmassol" type="update">
+        The <code>maven.announcement.version</code> property does no longer
+        needs to be defined. It defaults to <code>${pom.currentVersion}</code>
+        if not defined.
+      </action>
       <action dev="vmassol" type="add">
         Improved web site documentation.
       </action>
diff --git a/announcement/xdocs/properties.xml b/announcement/xdocs/properties.xml
index 325a1d5b..1ca502af 100644
--- a/announcement/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/announcement/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
             Version for which to create a release note.       	
           </td>
           <td>
-            <code>${pom.version}</code>
+            <code>${pom.currentVersion}</code>
           </td>
         </tr>
         <tr>