For example: It is possible to activate both of these profiles (mvn -Dtest1=true -Dtest2=true help:active-profiles lists both profile1 and profile2) however only profile2 is run (test1 activated is not echoed) <profile> <id>profile1</id> <activation> <property> <name>test1</name> <value>true</value> </property> </activation> <build> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId> <executions> <execution> <phase>generate-sources</phase> <goals> <goal>run</goal> </goals> <configuration> <tasks> <echo>test1 activated</echo> </tasks> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> </profile> <profile> <id>profile2</id> <activation> <property> <name>test2</name> <value>true</value> </property> </activation> <build> <plugins> <plugin> <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId> <executions> <execution> <phase>generate-sources</phase> <goals> <goal>run</goal> </goals> <configuration> <tasks> <echo>test2 activated</echo> </tasks> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> </profile> Just a guess, but it looks like the executions are not being merged, rather the definition of the second plugin overwrites the first.