diff --git a/activemq-client/pom.xml b/activemq-client/pom.xml
index 57685b2af13..dcd61a95a5c 100644
--- a/activemq-client/pom.xml
+++ b/activemq-client/pom.xml
@@ -323,6 +323,7 @@
 
   <profiles>
     <!-- Execute with: mvn -P openwire-generate antrun:run -->
+    <!-- NB: this requires JDK8 still -->
     <profile>
       <id>openwire-generate</id>
       <build>
@@ -340,11 +341,11 @@
               </execution>
             </executions>
             <configuration>
-              <tasks>
+              <target>
                 <echo>Running OpenWire Generator</echo>
                 <taskdef name="generate" classname="org.apache.activemq.openwire.tool.JavaGeneratorTask" classpathref="maven.compile.classpath" />
                 <generate version="12" basedir="${basedir}" generateTests="false" />
-              </tasks>
+              </target>
             </configuration>
             <dependencies>
                 <dependency>
diff --git a/activemq-openwire-generator/pom.xml b/activemq-openwire-generator/pom.xml
index 71b314467cb..3a01bcd2205 100644
--- a/activemq-openwire-generator/pom.xml
+++ b/activemq-openwire-generator/pom.xml
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@
   <artifactId>activemq-openwire-generator</artifactId>
   <name>ActiveMQ :: Openwire Generator</name>
 
+  <properties>
+    <maven.compiler.target>8</maven.compiler.target>
+  </properties>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.groovy</groupId>
@@ -51,6 +55,39 @@
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <id>enforce-maven</id>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>enforce</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <rules>
+                <requireMavenVersion>
+                  <version>3.0.5</version>
+                </requireMavenVersion>
+              </rules>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
+          <execution>
+            <id>enforce-java-version</id>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>enforce</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <rules>
+                <requireJavaVersion>
+                  <version>[8,)</version>
+                  <message>You must use Java 8 to build.</message>
+                </requireJavaVersion>
+              </rules>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
       <plugin>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
         <configuration>