diff --git a/eclipse/plugin.jelly b/eclipse/plugin.jelly
index ac9ac521..0c18e092 100644
--- a/eclipse/plugin.jelly
+++ b/eclipse/plugin.jelly
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@
   <goal name="eclipse:generate-project"
     description="Generate Eclipse .project and .classpath project files">
 
+		<j:set var="outputDir" value="${maven.eclipse.output.dir}"/>
+		<j:if test="${empty outputDir}">
+			<j:set var="outputDir" value="target\classes"/>
+		</j:if>
+		
     <echo>Creating ${basedir}/.project ...</echo>
 
 	<j:file name="${basedir}/.project" prettyPrint="true" xmlns="dummy">
@@ -76,7 +81,7 @@
         <j:forEach var="lib" items="${pom.artifacts}">
           <classpathentry kind="var" path="MAVEN_REPO${lib.urlPath}"/>
         </j:forEach>
-        <classpathentry kind="output" path="target\classes"/>
+        <classpathentry kind="output" path="${outputDir}"/>
       </classpath>
 	</j:file>	
 	
diff --git a/eclipse/xdocs/properties.xml b/eclipse/xdocs/properties.xml
index 393b17b0..b0850738 100644
--- a/eclipse/xdocs/properties.xml
+++ b/eclipse/xdocs/properties.xml
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@
 			build classpath.
           </td>
         </tr>
+        <tr>
+          <td>maven.eclipse.output.dir</td>
+          <td>Yes (default=target/classes)</td>
+          <td>
+			The directory to which Eclipse should output its classes.
+			By default this is the same directory as Maven generates its code
+			however this can be changed so that <code>maven clean</code>
+			does not interfere with Eclipse's build.
+          </td>
+        </tr>
       </table>
 	  <p>
 		Note that you will need to defined a <code>MAVEN_REPO</code> Java