diff --git a/core/pom.xml b/core/pom.xml
index 8825a802f..c77556da6 100644
--- a/core/pom.xml
+++ b/core/pom.xml
@@ -19,13 +19,6 @@
     </scm>
 
     <build>
-        <extensions>
-            <extension>
-                <groupId>org.apache.struts</groupId>
-                <artifactId>struts-annotations</artifactId>
-                <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
-            </extension>
-        </extensions>
         <plugins>
         	<plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
@@ -468,5 +461,16 @@
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
 
+        <!-- struts-annotations must be in compile scope for maven-apt-plugin to
+        function correctly. Marking it optional to exclude it from transitive
+        dependency resolution -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.struts</groupId>
+            <artifactId>struts-annotations</artifactId>
+            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <optional>true</optional>
+        </dependency>
+
+        
     </dependencies>
 </project>