diff --git a/file-activity/plugin.jelly b/file-activity/plugin.jelly
index e94ffc14..421c9793 100644
--- a/file-activity/plugin.jelly
+++ b/file-activity/plugin.jelly
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   xmlns:changelog="changelog"
   xmlns:doc="doc"
   xmlns:j="jelly:core"
+  xmlns:maven="jelly:maven"
   xmlns:util="jelly:util">
 
   <goal name="maven-file-activity-plugin:register">
@@ -44,8 +45,7 @@
       <j:set var="maven.mode.online" value="true" />
     </j:if>
 
-    <j:set var="factory"
-      value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-changelog-plugin').getVariable('maven.changelog.factory')}"/>
+    <maven:pluginVar var="factory" plugin="maven-changelog-plugin" property="maven.changelog.factory" />
 
     <j:choose>
       <j:when test="${maven.mode.online}">
diff --git a/jar/plugin.jelly b/jar/plugin.jelly
index f17e67a7..b7959186 100644
--- a/jar/plugin.jelly
+++ b/jar/plugin.jelly
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         <ant:attribute name="Implementation-Version" value="${pom.currentVersion}"/>
         <ant:attribute name="Implementation-Vendor" value="${pom.organization.name}"/>
         <ant:attribute name="Implementation-Vendor-Id" value="${pom.organization.identifier}"/>
-        <j:set var="mainclass" value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-java-plugin').getVariable('maven.jar.mainclass')}"/>
+        <maven:pluginVar var="mainClass" plugin="maven-java-plugin" property="maven.jar.mainclass" />
         <j:if test="${!empty(mainclass)}">
             <ant:attribute name="Main-Class" value="${mainclass}"/>
         </j:if>
diff --git a/junit-report/plugin.jelly b/junit-report/plugin.jelly
index 21d4caa0..f00f5918 100644
--- a/junit-report/plugin.jelly
+++ b/junit-report/plugin.jelly
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 <project 
   xmlns:ant="jelly:ant"
   xmlns:doc="doc"
-  xmlns:j="jelly:core">
+  xmlns:j="jelly:core"
+  xmlns:maven="jelly:maven">
   
   <goal name="maven-junit-report-plugin:register">
     <j:if test="${unitTestSourcesPresent == 'true'}">
@@ -39,8 +40,7 @@
       <j:set var="maven.test.failure.ignore" scope="parent" 
         value="${ignoreTestFailureOld}"/>
 
-      <j:set var="testReportsDirectory"
-        value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-test-plugin').getVariable('maven.test.reportsDirectory')}"/>
+      <maven:pluginVar var="testReportsDirectory" plugin='maven-test-plugin' property='maven.test.reportsDirectory'/>
 
       <ant:mkdir dir="${testReportsDirectory}"/>
 
diff --git a/jxr/plugin.jelly b/jxr/plugin.jelly
index feef622d..d4c9df25 100644
--- a/jxr/plugin.jelly
+++ b/jxr/plugin.jelly
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   xmlns:doc="doc"
   xmlns:j="jelly:core"  
   xmlns:jxr="jxr"
+  xmlns:maven="jelly:maven"
   xmlns:util="jelly:util">
 
   <define:taglib uri="jxr">
@@ -56,18 +57,12 @@
 
       <ant:echo>${maven.sourcesPresent}</ant:echo>
 
-      <j:set var="javadocDestdir"
-        value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-javadoc-plugin').getVariable('maven.javadoc.destdir')}"/>
+      <maven:pluginVar var="javadocDestdir" plugin='maven-javadoc-plugin' property='maven.javadoc.destdir'/>
 
-      <ant:property
-        name="copyright"
-        value="Copyright &amp;copy; ${year} ${pom.organization.name}. All Rights Reserved."
-      />
+      <j:set var="copyright"
+        value="Copyright &amp;copy; ${year} ${pom.organization.name}. All Rights Reserved." />
 
-      <ant:property
-        name="title"
-        value="${pom.name} ${pom.currentVersion} Reference"
-      />
+      <j:set var="title" value="${pom.name} ${pom.currentVersion} Reference" />
 
       <ant:copy file="${maven.jxr.stylesheet}"
         tofile="${maven.jxr.destdir}/stylesheet.css"/>
diff --git a/linkcheck/plugin.jelly b/linkcheck/plugin.jelly
index bbb5a018..04659344 100644
--- a/linkcheck/plugin.jelly
+++ b/linkcheck/plugin.jelly
@@ -4,10 +4,9 @@
   xmlns:j="jelly:core" 
   xmlns:define="jelly:define"
   xmlns:linkcheck="linkcheck"
+  xmlns:maven="jelly:maven"
   xmlns:doc="doc">
   
-  <property name="maven.linkcheck.cache" value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-linkcheck-plugin').getVariable('maven.linkcheck.cache')}"/>
-  
   <goal name="maven-linkcheck-plugin:register">
     <doc:registerReport 
       name="Link Check Report" 
@@ -42,8 +41,9 @@
   </goal>
   
   <postGoal name="xdoc:jelly-transform">
-    <j:set var="reports" value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
-   <j:set var="context" value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin')}"/>
+    <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
+    <!-- not sure why the following is being done 
+    <j:set var="context" value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin')}"/> -->
       
     <j:set var="online">${maven.mode.online}</j:set>
     
diff --git a/site/plugin.jelly b/site/plugin.jelly
index 5dcf5bfc..8083be0b 100644
--- a/site/plugin.jelly
+++ b/site/plugin.jelly
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@
   </goal>
   
   <goal name="site:run-reports" prereqs="xdoc:register-reports">
-    <j:set var="reports" 
-         value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
+    <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
   
     <j:forEach var="report" items="${reports}">
       <j:set var="reportName" value="${report.get('pluginName')}"/>
diff --git a/test/plugin.jelly b/test/plugin.jelly
index b4666c98..e8f8d113 100644
--- a/test/plugin.jelly
+++ b/test/plugin.jelly
@@ -260,9 +260,8 @@
             <j:forEach var="someProperty" items="${listOfProperties}">
               <sysproperty key="${someProperty}" value="${context.getVariable(someProperty)}"/>
             </j:forEach>
-            <j:set var="jvmargs"
-               value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-test-plugin').getVariable('maven.junit.jvmargs')}"/>
-            <j:if test="$">
+            <maven:pluginVar var="jvmargs" plugin="maven-test-plugin" property="maven.junit.jvmargs" />
+            <j:if test="${!empty(jvmArgs)}">
                 <jvmarg line="${jvmargs}"/>
             </j:if>
             <formatter type="xml"/>
diff --git a/xdoc/plugin.jelly b/xdoc/plugin.jelly
index 5e51a6ad..e7676cb0 100644
--- a/xdoc/plugin.jelly
+++ b/xdoc/plugin.jelly
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   xmlns:j="jelly:core"
   xmlns:jsl="jelly:jsl"
   xmlns:log="jelly:log"
+  xmlns:maven="jelly:maven"
   xmlns:pom="pom"
   xmlns:util="jelly:util"
   xmlns:x="jelly:xml"
@@ -17,9 +18,7 @@
     <define:tag name="deregisterReport">
       <!-- @name : Report to deregister, must be same as name used to register -->
       
-      <j:set 
-        var="reports" 
-        value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
+      <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
       
       <j:set var="removeRpt" value="null"/>
       <j:forEach var="rpt" items="${reports}">
@@ -39,9 +38,7 @@
       @description text description of report
       @link the nav-bar link for this report
       -->
-      <j:set 
-        var="reports" 
-        value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
+      <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
 
       <!-- check if the given name is in the list already -->      
       <j:set var="add" value="true"/>
@@ -280,8 +277,7 @@
       <util:file var="docsSrcFile" name="${maven.docs.src}"/>
 
       <!-- parse the project nav. Someone jellier than me can remove the temp file requirement -->
-      <j:set var="reports"
-        value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
+      <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
 
       <util:file var="tempnav" name="${maven.build.dir}/project-nav.xml"/>
     
@@ -364,9 +360,7 @@
     
     <!-- All the templates use $project for now. -->
     <j:set var="project" value="${pom}"/>
-    <j:set 
-      var="reports"
-      value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
+    <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
 
     <!-- Does the user want the maven-generated docs on their site? -->
     <j:set 
@@ -640,11 +634,15 @@
   </goal>
   
   
-  <!-- This is required as the linkchecker runs as a final pass over the generated
-       document tree -->
+  <!-- 
+   ! This is required as the linkchecker runs as a final pass over the generated
+   ! document tree.
+   ! FIXME: Why isn't this in linkcheck?
+   !-->
   <goal name="xdoc:performJSL"
       description="Allows the LinkCheck plugin to xdoc a single directory">
-  <j:set var="maven.xdoc.src" value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-linkcheck-plugin').getVariable('maven.xdoc.src')}"/>
+
+    <maven:pluginVar var="maven.xdoc.src" plugin="maven-linkcheck-plugin" property="maven.xdoc.src" />
     <doc:performJSL 
       srcdir="${maven.xdoc.src}" 
       destdir="${maven.docs.dest}"/>
@@ -652,9 +650,7 @@
   
   <goal name="xdoc:dump-report-settings">
     <echo>Dumping report settings</echo>
-    <j:set 
-       var="reports" 
-       value="${pom.getPluginContext('maven-xdoc-plugin').getVariable('reports')}"/>
+    <maven:pluginVar var="reports" plugin="maven-xdoc-plugin" property="reports" />
        
     <j:forEach var="report" items="${reports}">
       <echo>Report: ${report}</echo>