diff --git a/versions-common/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/api/PomHelper.java b/versions-common/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/api/PomHelper.java
index 81ecf17d40..1a8512e5a5 100644
--- a/versions-common/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/api/PomHelper.java
+++ b/versions-common/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/api/PomHelper.java
@@ -1416,9 +1416,8 @@ public static Map<File, Model> getChildModels(MavenProject project, Log logger)
      * @param model   The root model
      * @param logger  The logger for logging.
      * @return A map of raw models keyed by path relative to the project's basedir.
-     * @throws IOException if things go wrong.
      */
-    private static Map<File, Model> getChildModels(Model model, Log logger) throws IOException {
+    private static Map<File, Model> getChildModels(Model model, Log logger) {
         Map<File, Model> result = new LinkedHashMap<>();
         Map<File, Model> childResults = new LinkedHashMap<>();
 
@@ -1436,7 +1435,7 @@ private static Map<File, Model> getChildModels(Model model, Log logger) throws I
                         result.put(pomFile, moduleModel);
                         childResults.putAll(getChildModels(moduleModel, logger));
                     } catch (IOException e) {
-                        logger.error("Could not parse " + pomFile.getPath(), e);
+                        throw new UncheckedIOException(e);
                     }
                 });
 
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/pom.xml b/versions-maven-plugin/pom.xml
index 9ec07e0b4a..101f0df945 100644
--- a/versions-maven-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@
             <pomExclude>it-lock-snapshots-junit/*</pomExclude>
           </pomExcludes>
           <postBuildHookScript>verify</postBuildHookScript>
+          <preBuildHookScript>setup</preBuildHookScript>
           <filterProperties>
             <repository.proxy.url>${repository.proxy.url}</repository.proxy.url>
           </filterProperties>
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/module-a2/pom.xml b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/module-a2/pom.invalid
similarity index 100%
rename from versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/module-a2/pom.xml
rename to versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/module-a2/pom.invalid
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/setup.groovy b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/setup.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..80d08ee9b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/setup.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import java.nio.file.Files
+/*
+ * Copyright MojoHaus and Contributors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+
+// rename file before run test
+def module2Path = basedir.toPath().resolve('module-a2')
+Files.move(module2Path.resolve('pom.invalid'), module2Path.resolve('pom.xml'))
+
+return true
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/verify.bsh b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/verify.bsh
deleted file mode 100644
index a38f0e8e5f..0000000000
--- a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/verify.bsh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import java.io.*;
-import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
-
-try
-{
-    File file = new File( basedir, "build.log" );
-    String buf = FileUtils.fileRead( file, "UTF-8" );
-    String expectedMessage = " Illegal processing instruction target (\"xml\"); xml (case insensitive) is reserved by the specs.";
-
-    if ( buf.indexOf( expectedMessage ) < 0 )
-    {
-        System.err.println( "Parsing XML of module-a2/pom.xml should fail the build" );
-        return false;
-    }
-}
-catch( Throwable t )
-{
-    t.printStackTrace();
-    return false;
-}
-
-return true;
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/verify.groovy b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/verify.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd2932b808
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-set-017-issue-321/verify.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+
+
+def log = new File( basedir, "build.log" ).text
+assert log.contains(' Illegal processing instruction target ("xml"); xml (case insensitive) is reserved by the specs.')