diff --git a/checkstyle/plugin.properties b/checkstyle/plugin.properties
index 6f69e3f1..16289745 100644
--- a/checkstyle/plugin.properties
+++ b/checkstyle/plugin.properties
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ maven.checkstyle.excludes =
 maven.checkstyle.fail.on.violation = false
 maven.checkstyle.cache.file = ${maven.checkstyle.dir}/checkstyle-cachefile
 maven.checkstyle.format = sun
-maven.checkstyle.header.file = ${basedir}/LICENSE.txt
+maven.checkstyle.header.file = ${maven.license.licenseFile}
 maven.checkstyle.check.tests=true
 
 # If useFile is false then the checkstyle task will display violations
diff --git a/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml b/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml
index 3b8ecb03..d049cf8b 100644
--- a/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/checkstyle/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
   </properties>
   <body>
     <release version="3.0.1-SNAPSHOT" date="in SVN">
+      <action dev="ltheussl" type="fix" issue="MPCHECKSTYLE-9"><code>maven.checkstyle.header.file</code> now defaults to <code>${maven.license.licenseFile}</code>.</action>
       <action dev="ltheussl" type="fix" issue="MPCHECKSTYLE-53" due-to="Bernard Durfee">ClassCastException when moving from 2.5 to 3.0. Xalan is used for ant's style task.</action>
     </release>
     <release version="3.0" date="2006-02-05">
diff --git a/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml b/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml
index a6eadf12..ccd6045c 100644
--- a/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/checkstyle/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
             Specifies the location of the License file (a.k.a the header file) 
             that is used by Checkstyle to verify that source code has the
             correct copyright. Default value is
-            <code>${basedir}/LICENSE.txt</code>
+            <code>${maven.license.licenseFile}</code>.
           </td>
         </tr>
         <tr>