diff --git a/src/it/projects/effective-pom_properties/invoker.properties b/src/it/projects/effective-pom_properties/invoker.properties
index 954ed85..c41141a 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/effective-pom_properties/invoker.properties
+++ b/src/it/projects/effective-pom_properties/invoker.properties
@@ -16,3 +16,9 @@
 # under the License.
 
 invoker.goals = ${project.groupId}:${project.artifactId}:${project.version}:effective-pom
+
+# verify.groovy asserts that user properties override pom properties on Maven 4,
+# expecting maven.compiler.source/target = 8 in the rendered effective POM.
+# Pass them as -D user properties so the override actually happens.
+invoker.systemProperties.maven.compiler.source = 8
+invoker.systemProperties.maven.compiler.target = 8