diff --git a/ear/plugin.jelly b/ear/plugin.jelly
index 8e9c471e..1f290514 100644
--- a/ear/plugin.jelly
+++ b/ear/plugin.jelly
@@ -85,10 +85,21 @@
           </j:if>
 
           <ant:echo>Bundling: ${dep.type} - ${dep.id} - ${dep.version}</ant:echo>
-          <ant:fileset dir="${lib.file.parent}">
-            <ant:include name="${lib.file.name}"/>
-          </ant:fileset>
-            
+          <j:set var="targetPath" value="${dep.getProperty('ear.target.path')}"/> 
+          <!-- decide where to include the dependency -->
+          <j:choose>
+             <j:when test="${empty(targetPath)}">
+               <ant:fileset dir="${lib.file.parent}">
+                 <ant:include name="${lib.file.name}"/>
+               </ant:fileset>
+             </j:when>
+             <j:otherwise>
+               <ant:zipfileset dir="${lib.file.parent}" prefix="${targetPath}">
+                 <ant:include name="${lib.file.name}"/>
+               </ant:zipfileset>
+            </j:otherwise>
+          </j:choose>
+
         </j:if>  
       </j:forEach>
 
diff --git a/ear/src/plugin-test/test02/maven.xml b/ear/src/plugin-test/test02/maven.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fea040fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ear/src/plugin-test/test02/maven.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+<!-- 
+/*
+ * Copyright 2004 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.
+ */
+ -->
+<project xmlns:j="jelly:core" 
+         xmlns:assert="assert"
+         default="testPlugin">
+
+  <goal name="testPlugin" prereqs="test-ear">
+    <attainGoal name="clean"/>
+  </goal>
+  
+  <goal name="test-ear">
+    <attainGoal name="ear"/>
+
+    <!-- tests that the ear is generated -->
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${maven.build.dir}/${maven.final.name}.ear"/>
+    
+    <!-- unzip the ear and look for the jars -->
+    <j:set var="earFile" 
+      value="${maven.build.dir}/${maven.final.name}.ear"/>
+    <j:set var="unzipDir" value= "${maven.build.dir}/eartest"/>
+    <mkdir dir="${unzipDir}"/>
+    <unzip src="${earFile}" dest="${unzipDir}"/>
+
+    <!-- check for commons-logging -->
+    <assert:assertFileExists file="${unzipDir}/APP-INF/lib/commons-logging-1.0.3.jar"
+      msg="commons logging was not bundled"/>
+    
+    <!-- check that commons-collections has not been packaged -->
+    <assert:assertFileNotFound file="${unzipDir}/APP-INF/lib/commons-collections-2.1.jar"
+      msg="commons collections was bundled incorrectly"/>
+
+
+  </goal>
+</project>
diff --git a/ear/src/plugin-test/test02/project.xml b/ear/src/plugin-test/test02/project.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c3dcea7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ear/src/plugin-test/test02/project.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!-- 
+/*
+ * Copyright 2004 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.
+ */
+ -->
+
+
+<project>
+  <pomVersion>3</pomVersion>
+  <name>Test project for Maven Ear Plugin 02</name>
+  <artifactId>test-maven-ear-plugin-02</artifactId>
+  <organization>
+    <name>Queensland Government</name>
+    <url>www.qld.gov.au</url>
+  </organization>
+  <inceptionYear>2004</inceptionYear>
+  <package>au.gov.qld</package>
+  <shortDescription>Test for Jar paths in Ears</shortDescription>
+  <description>Test that a jar is packaged in the path specified in the project file</description>
+  <url/>
+  <developers>
+    <developer>
+      <name>Wiley Fuller</name>
+      <id>wfuller</id>
+      <email>wfuller@...</email>
+      <organization>Queensland Government</organization>
+      <role>Java Developer</role>
+    </developer>
+  </developers>
+  <dependencies>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
+      <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
+      <version>1.0.3</version>
+      <url>http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/logging.html</url>
+      <properties>
+        <ear.bundle>true</ear.bundle>
+        <ear.target.path>APP-INF/lib</ear.target.path>
+      </properties>
+    </dependency>
+  </dependencies>
+  <build>
+    <sourceDirectory>${basedir}/src</sourceDirectory>
+    <unitTestSourceDirectory>${basedir}/src/test</unitTestSourceDirectory>
+  </build>
+</project>
diff --git a/ear/xdocs/changes.xml b/ear/xdocs/changes.xml
index 0e23c1b2..a8da879f 100644
--- a/ear/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/ear/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
   </properties>
   <body>
     <release version="1.6-SNAPSHOT" date="in CVS">
+      <action dev="felipeal" type="felipeal" issue="MPEAR-23" due-to="Wiley Fuller">Add new property dependency(<code>ear.target.path</code>) to define where a dependency should be added in the EAR.</action>
       <action dev="felipeal" type="fix" issue="MPEAR-9" due-to="Sean Timm">Build now fails in some cases were the dependencies are copied with wrong case.</action>
       <action dev="felipeal" type="add" issue="MPEAR-21">Added property <code>maven.ear.appxml.encoding</code>.</action>
       <action dev="vmassol" type="update" issue="MPEAR-19">
diff --git a/ear/xdocs/properties.xml b/ear/xdocs/properties.xml
index 42828966..2ab7e13c 100644
--- a/ear/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/ear/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -153,9 +153,9 @@
       </properties>
     </dependency>
   ]]></source>
-        
+       
       <p>
-      Those artifact will be also "visible" during generation
+      Those artifacts will be also "visible" during generation
       of <code>application.xml</code> file. In case of war artifacts you can also
       specify context root which will be set in <code>application.xml</code> file:
       </p>
@@ -173,7 +173,22 @@
   ]]></source>
   
        <p>
-         Please note that if a jar is a java client module, you will need to declare
+         Note that by default the artifacts will be bundled in the EAR's root directory. To change the location where an artifact is bundled, please use the <code>ear.target.path</code> property:
+       </p>
+  <source><![CDATA[
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>groupId</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jarArtifactId</artifactId>
+      <version>aversion</version>
+      <type>jar</type>
+      <properties>
+        <ear.bundle>true</ear.bundle>
+        <ear.target.path>APP-INF/lib</ear.target.path>
+      </properties>
+    </dependency>
+  ]]></source>
+       <p>
+         Finally, please note that if a jar is a java client module, you will need to declare
          it using the <code>ear.module</code> property, rather than ear.bundle:
        </p>
   <source><![CDATA[