diff --git a/jira/project.xml b/jira/project.xml
index 5d8b5959..a109a19d 100644
--- a/jira/project.xml
+++ b/jira/project.xml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
   <description>This plugin downloads issues from Jira and creates a report.</description>
   <shortDescription>Download issues from Jira</shortDescription>
   <url>http://maven.apache.org/maven-1.x/reference/plugins/jira/</url>
-  <issueTrackingUrl>http://jira.codehaus.org/secure/IssueNavigator.jspa?id=10450</issueTrackingUrl>
+  <issueTrackingUrl>http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/MPJIRA</issueTrackingUrl>
   <siteDirectory>/www/maven.apache.org/maven-1.x/reference/plugins/jira/</siteDirectory>
   <repository>
     <connection>scm:svn:http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/maven/maven-1/plugins/trunk/jira/</connection>
diff --git a/jira/src/main/org/apache/maven/jira/JiraDownloader.java b/jira/src/main/org/apache/maven/jira/JiraDownloader.java
index becf1560..f8a5820e 100644
--- a/jira/src/main/org/apache/maven/jira/JiraDownloader.java
+++ b/jira/src/main/org/apache/maven/jira/JiraDownloader.java
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.text.NumberFormat;
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
@@ -186,12 +188,13 @@ public final class JiraDownloader {
     public void doExecute() throws Exception {
         if (project == null) {
             throw new Exception("No project set.");
-        } else {
-            if (project.getIssueTrackingUrl() == null) {
-                throw new Exception("No issue tracking url set.");
-            }
         }
 
+        if (project.getIssueTrackingUrl() == null) {
+            throw new Exception("No issue tracking url set.");
+        }
+
+
         try {
             HttpClient cl = new HttpClient();
             HttpState state = new HttpState();
@@ -205,19 +208,48 @@ public final class JiraDownloader {
             // chop off the parameter part
             int pos = url.indexOf("?");
             // and get the id while we're at it
-            String id = "";
+            String id = null;
             if (pos >= 0) {
                 // url
                 id = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf("=") + 1);
-            }
-            // TODO: fail the build in the else block, issueTrackingUrl has to include id
+            }      
 
             String jiraUrl = url.substring(0, url.lastIndexOf("/"));
-            if (jiraUrl.endsWith("secure")) {
+            if (jiraUrl.endsWith("secure") || jiraUrl.endsWith("browse")) {
                 jiraUrl = jiraUrl.substring(0, jiraUrl.lastIndexOf("/"));
             }
             log.info("Jira lives at: " + jiraUrl);
             doAuthentication(cl, jiraUrl);
+            
+            if (id == null) {
+                GetMethod gm = new GetMethod(url);
+                log.info("Jira URL " + url + " doesn't include a pid, trying to get it");
+                try {
+                    cl.executeMethod(gm);
+                    log.info("Succesfully reached JIRA.");
+                }
+                catch (Exception e) {
+                    if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                        log.error("Unable to reach JIRA project page:", e);
+                    }
+                    else {
+                        log.error("Unable to reach JIRA project page. Cause is: " + e.getLocalizedMessage());
+                    }
+                }
+                String projectPage = gm.getResponseBodyAsString();
+                int pidIndex = projectPage.indexOf("pid="); // @todo, a safer way to get the PID
+
+                if (pidIndex == -1) {
+                    // fail
+                    log.error("Unable to get JIRA pid using url " + project.getIssueTrackingUrl());
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getInstance();
+                Number pidNumber = nf.parse(projectPage, new ParsePosition(pidIndex + 4));
+                id = Integer.toString(pidNumber.intValue());
+            }
+            
 
             // create the URL for getting the proper iussues from JIRA
             String fullURL = jiraUrl + "/secure/IssueNavigator.jspa?view=rss&pid=" + id;
diff --git a/jira/xdocs/changes.xml b/jira/xdocs/changes.xml
index eb492dda..f4e93b94 100644
--- a/jira/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/jira/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
   </properties>
   <body>
     <release version="1.2-SNAPSHOT" date="in SVN">
+      <action dev="fgiust" type="fix" issue="MPJIRA-4">Make the Jira report work also using a fancy JIRA url like http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/MPJIRA (it doesn't require 
+      the url with a numeric project id anymore)</action>
       <action dev="aheritier" type="update" issue="MAVEN-1712">Update dependencies to match ones in maven 1.1 core and to unify them between plugins. The following dependencies are updated : 
         <ul>
           <li>log4j v1.2.8 -> v1.2.12</li>