diff --git a/maven-extensions/pom.xml b/maven-extensions/pom.xml
index 21cef747..09dcb431 100644
--- a/maven-extensions/pom.xml
+++ b/maven-extensions/pom.xml
@@ -129,9 +129,7 @@ under the License.
     <profile>
       <id>run-its</id>
       <properties>
-        <!-- when testing with JDK9, change these values to 1.6 from cmdline -->
-        <invoker.maven.compiler.source>${maven.compiler.source}</invoker.maven.compiler.source>
-        <invoker.maven.compiler.target>${maven.compiler.target}</invoker.maven.compiler.target>
+        <invoker.maven.compiler.release>${maven.compiler.release}</invoker.maven.compiler.release>
       </properties>
       <build>
         <plugins>
@@ -150,8 +148,7 @@ under the License.
                 <pomInclude>*/pom.xml</pomInclude>
               </pomIncludes>
               <properties>
-                <maven.compiler.source>${invoker.maven.compiler.source}</maven.compiler.source>
-                <maven.compiler.target>${invoker.maven.compiler.target}</maven.compiler.target>
+                <maven.compiler.release>${invoker.maven.compiler.release}</maven.compiler.release>
               </properties>
             </configuration>
             <executions>
diff --git a/maven-plugins/pom.xml b/maven-plugins/pom.xml
index bda97e8d..d957c803 100644
--- a/maven-plugins/pom.xml
+++ b/maven-plugins/pom.xml
@@ -176,9 +176,7 @@ under the License.
     <profile>
       <id>run-its</id>
       <properties>
-        <!-- when testing with JDK9, change these values to 1.6 from cmdline -->
-        <invoker.maven.compiler.source>${maven.compiler.source}</invoker.maven.compiler.source>
-        <invoker.maven.compiler.target>${maven.compiler.target}</invoker.maven.compiler.target>
+        <invoker.maven.compiler.release>${maven.compiler.release}</invoker.maven.compiler.release>
       </properties>
       <build>
         <plugins>
@@ -197,8 +195,7 @@ under the License.
                 <pomInclude>*/pom.xml</pomInclude>
               </pomIncludes>
               <properties>
-                <maven.compiler.source>${invoker.maven.compiler.source}</maven.compiler.source>
-                <maven.compiler.target>${invoker.maven.compiler.target}</maven.compiler.target>
+                <maven.compiler.release>${invoker.maven.compiler.release}</maven.compiler.release>
               </properties>
             </configuration>
             <executions>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c23e07f2..f3ba8a8c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -960,7 +960,8 @@ under the License.
   </distributionManagement>
 
   <properties>
-    <javaVersion>8</javaVersion>
+    <javaVersion>17</javaVersion>
+    <maven.compiler.release>${javaVersion}</maven.compiler.release>
     <maven.compiler.showDeprecation>true</maven.compiler.showDeprecation>
     <checkstyle.includeTestSourceDirectory>true</checkstyle.includeTestSourceDirectory>
     <!-- in order to restore default annotation processing behaviour, please override with empty value -->
@@ -1116,7 +1117,7 @@ under the License.</licenseText>
           <artifactId>maven-pmd-plugin</artifactId>
           <version>3.28.0</version>
           <configuration>
-            <targetJdk>${javaVersion}</targetJdk>
+            <targetJdk>${maven.compiler.release}</targetJdk>
             <rulesets>
               <ruleset>rulesets/maven.xml</ruleset>
             </rulesets>
@@ -1196,7 +1197,7 @@ under the License.</licenseText>
               <configuration>
                 <rules>
                   <enforceBytecodeVersion>
-                    <maxJdkVersion>${javaVersion}</maxJdkVersion>
+                    <maxJdkVersion>${maven.compiler.release}</maxJdkVersion>
                   </enforceBytecodeVersion>
                 </rules>
                 <fail>true</fail>
@@ -1480,7 +1481,7 @@ under the License.</licenseText>
             <configuration>
               <toolchains>
                 <jdk>
-                  <version>${javaVersion}</version>
+                  <version>${maven.compiler.release}</version>
                 </jdk>
               </toolchains>
             </configuration>