diff --git a/scio/pom.xml b/scio/pom.xml
index 08d0696850..8571382fd7 100644
--- a/scio/pom.xml
+++ b/scio/pom.xml
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
     <guava.version>14.0.1</guava.version> <!-- update needed -->
 
     <!--plugin versions-->
-    <plugin.shade.version>2.3</plugin.shade.version>
     <plugin.scala.version>2.15.2</plugin.scala.version>
     <plugin.avro.version>1.7.7</plugin.avro.version>
 
diff --git a/spark/spark-dependencies/pom.xml b/spark/spark-dependencies/pom.xml
index 35f095b6a9..84c55b2e0d 100644
--- a/spark/spark-dependencies/pom.xml
+++ b/spark/spark-dependencies/pom.xml
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
     <akka.version>2.3.4-spark</akka.version>
 
     <!--plugin versions-->
-    <plugin.shade.version>2.3</plugin.shade.version>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>