diff --git a/war/plugin.jelly b/war/plugin.jelly
index 664488d3..d5d2e27d 100644
--- a/war/plugin.jelly
+++ b/war/plugin.jelly
@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@
     
     <ant:echo>Building WAR ${pom.artifactId}</ant:echo>
 
+    <!-- build dependency list -->
+    <j:set var="maven.war.classpath" value=""/>
+    <j:forEach var="dep" items="${pom.dependencies}">
+      <j:if test="${dep.getProperty('war.manifest.classpath')=='true'}">
+        <j:set var="maven.war.classpath" value="${maven.war.classpath} ${dep.artifact}"/>
+      </j:if>
+    </j:forEach>
+    
     <ant:available property="maven.war.manifest.available"
       file="${maven.war.manifest}"/>
 
@@ -74,6 +82,11 @@
       </j:if>
 
       <ant:manifest>
+        <j:set var="classPath" value="${maven.war.classpath}"/>
+        <j:if test="${!empty(classPath)}">
+            <ant:attribute name="Class-Path" value="${maven.war.classpath}"/>
+        </j:if>
+
         <ant:attribute name="Built-By" value="${user.name}" />
         <ant:section name="${pom.package}">
           <ant:attribute name="Specification-Title" value="${pom.artifactId}" />
diff --git a/war/src/plugin-test/maven.xml b/war/src/plugin-test/maven.xml
index 36e90589..28046f9c 100644
--- a/war/src/plugin-test/maven.xml
+++ b/war/src/plugin-test/maven.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
     <assert:assertFileExists file="${warDir}/WEB-INF/lib/commons-logging-1.0.3.jar"/>
 
     <!-- check for manifest contents -->
+    <!-- a) Make sure existing manifest gets merged -->
     <j:set var="unzipDir" value="${maven.build.dir}/unzippedWar"/>
     <mkdir dir="${unzipDir}"/>
     <unzip src="${warFile}" dest="${unzipDir}"/>
@@ -39,5 +40,10 @@
     <j:if test="${!found}">
       <fail>Manifest not merged</fail>
     </j:if>
+    <!-- b) Make sure Class-Path entry is created -->
+    <j:set var="found" value='${manifest.indexOf("Class-Path:  commons-logging-1.0.3.jar") ge 0}'/>
+    <j:if test="${!found}">
+      <fail>Class-Path not generated</fail>
+    </j:if>
   </goal>
 </project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/war/src/plugin-test/project.xml b/war/src/plugin-test/project.xml
index 409bb4f9..bc252e8e 100644
--- a/war/src/plugin-test/project.xml
+++ b/war/src/plugin-test/project.xml
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@
       <url>http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/logging.html</url>
       <properties>
         <war.bundle>true</war.bundle>
+        <war.manifest.classpath>true</war.manifest.classpath>
       </properties>
     </dependency>
   </dependencies>
diff --git a/war/xdocs/changes.xml b/war/xdocs/changes.xml
index fb7e1a3d..766ee150 100644
--- a/war/xdocs/changes.xml
+++ b/war/xdocs/changes.xml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
   </properties>
   <body>
     <release version="1.6" date="in CVS">
+      <action dev="dion" type="update" issue="MPWAR-21">Allow automated generation of manifest Class-Path</action>
       <action dev="dion" type="update" issue="MPWAR-22">Allow customizing of MANIFEST.MF</action>
     </release>
     
