diff --git a/pom/plugin.jelly b/pom/plugin.jelly
index bfbc5a4b..d3d8ed29 100644
--- a/pom/plugin.jelly
+++ b/pom/plugin.jelly
@@ -65,15 +65,20 @@
 
     <util:file var="pomAsFile" name="${pom.file.canonicalPath}" />
     <j:if test="${pomAsFile != null}">
-      <x:parse var="parsedPom" xml="${pomAsFile}"/>
-      <x:set var="extends" select="$parsedPom/project/extend"/>
+      <!-- x:parse doesn't work if <project> contains namespace? -->
+      <!--<x:parse var="parsedPom" xml="${pomAsFile}"/>
+      <x:set var="extends" select="$parsedPom/project/extend"/>-->
+      <j:new className="org.apache.maven.PomUtils" var="pomUtils"/>
+      <j:setProperties object="${pomUtils}" file="${pomAsFile}"/>
+      <j:set var="extends" value="${pomUtils.extend()}"/>
+      <j:set var="parent" value="${pomUtils.getParent()}"/>
     </j:if>
 
-    <x:if select="$extends">
+    <j:if test="${extends == 'true'}">
       <log:warn>
         <j:whitespace>
   ***  WARNING  ***
-  ***  The current pom extends <x:expr select="$parsedPom/project/extend"/>
+  ***  The current pom extends ${parent}
   ***  This parent pom has to be validated separately!
        </j:whitespace>
       </log:warn>
@@ -93,7 +98,7 @@
         </j:file>
       </j:if>
       <j:set var="xsd" value="${plugin.resources}/xsd/pom-extend-3.xsd"/>
-    </x:if>
+    </j:if>
 
     <log:info>Using xsd file: ${xsd}</log:info>
 
diff --git a/pom/project.xml b/pom/project.xml
index 3fab9c3f..7af839c6 100644
--- a/pom/project.xml
+++ b/pom/project.xml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  */
  -->
 
-<project>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/3.0.0">
   <extend>../plugin-parent/project.xml</extend>
   <pomVersion>3</pomVersion>
   <id>maven-pom-plugin</id>
diff --git a/pom/src/main/org/apache/maven/PomUtils.java b/pom/src/main/org/apache/maven/PomUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5bfac0f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pom/src/main/org/apache/maven/PomUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+package org.apache.maven;
+
+/* ====================================================================
+ *   Copyright 2001-2005 The Apache Software Foundation.
+ *
+ *   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *   limitations under the License.
+ * ====================================================================
+ */
+
+import java.io.*;
+import javax.xml.parsers.*;
+import org.w3c.dom.*;
+import org.xml.sax.*;
+
+/**
+ * Some utility methods.
+ * @author <a href="mailto:ltheussl@apache.org">Lukas Theussl</a>
+ */
+public class PomUtils
+{
+    private File file;
+    private String parent;
+
+    /** The parent.
+     * @return The parent
+     */
+    public String getParent()
+    {
+      return parent;
+    }
+
+    /** The file.
+     * @return The file
+     */
+    public File getFile()
+    {
+      return file;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the file.
+     * @param newFile The file to set
+     */
+    public void setFile(File newFile)
+    {
+      this.file = newFile;
+    }
+
+    /** The file.
+     * @return True if the file contains <extend>.
+     */
+    public boolean extend()
+    {
+        Document doc = parseXmlFile(file, false);
+        NodeList list = doc.getElementsByTagName("extend");
+        boolean extend = false;
+        if ( list.getLength() > 0 )
+        {
+            extend = true;
+            Element element = (Element) list.item(0);
+            try
+            {
+            Node firstChild = element.getFirstChild();
+            parent = firstChild.getNodeValue();
+            }  catch (DOMException e) {
+            }
+        }
+        return extend;
+    }
+
+    private Document parseXmlFile(File filename, boolean validating)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            DocumentBuilderFactory factory =
+                DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
+            factory.setValidating(validating);
+            Document doc = factory.newDocumentBuilder().parse(filename);
+            return doc;
+        } catch (SAXException e) {
+        } catch (ParserConfigurationException e) {
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pom/src/plugin-resources/xsd/pom-strict-3.xsd b/pom/src/plugin-resources/xsd/pom-strict-3.xsd
index 8ad14d86..98eb977a 100644
--- a/pom/src/plugin-resources/xsd/pom-strict-3.xsd
+++ b/pom/src/plugin-resources/xsd/pom-strict-3.xsd
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  -->
 
 <xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
+
   <xs:element name="project" type="Model">
     <xs:annotation>
       <xs:documentation source="version">3.0.0+</xs:documentation>