diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 3f671b44fb..ed0f156092 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -150,7 +150,10 @@
     <maven-surefire-plugin.version>2.19.1</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
     <maven-xolstice-plugin.version>0.5.0</maven-xolstice-plugin.version>
 
-    <apache-rat-plugin.version>0.10</apache-rat-plugin.version>
+    <!--
+      ! Can be removed if changing to ASF parent version 19
+    -->
+    <apache-rat-plugin.version>0.12</apache-rat-plugin.version>
     <build-helper-maven-plugin.version>1.9</build-helper-maven-plugin.version>
     <exec-maven-plugin.version>1.3.1</exec-maven-plugin.version>
     <findbugs.version>3.0.0</findbugs.version>
@@ -525,17 +528,6 @@
           <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
           <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
           <version>${apache-rat-plugin.version}</version>
-          <configuration>
-            <excludes>
-              <exclude>.gitattributes</exclude>
-              <exclude>.gitignore</exclude>
-              <exclude>.git/**</exclude>
-              <exclude>**/*.swp</exclude>
-              <exclude>**/*.iml</exclude>
-              <exclude>.idea/**</exclude>
-              <exclude>**/target/**</exclude>
-            </excludes>
-          </configuration>
         </plugin>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>