Index: /Users/jochen/Projects/Maven/maven-dev/plugins/maven-eclipse-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/eclipse/EclipsePlugin.java
===================================================================
--- /Users/jochen/Projects/Maven/maven-dev/plugins/maven-eclipse-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/eclipse/EclipsePlugin.java	(revision 496981)
+++ /Users/jochen/Projects/Maven/maven-dev/plugins/maven-eclipse-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/eclipse/EclipsePlugin.java	(working copy)
@@ -275,7 +275,18 @@
      * Not a plugin parameter. Is this a java project?
      */
     private boolean isJavaProject;
-
+    
+    /**
+     * Always create projects for Maven pom projects
+     * 
+     * Normally, the Eclipse plugin only creates Eclipse projects if the Maven project is a
+     * jar project or if a workspace directory is specified. Setting this parameter to true
+     * forces the creation of pom projects even if no workspace is specified.
+     *
+     * @parameter expression="${eclipse.alwaysWritePomProjects}" default-value="false"
+     */
+    private boolean alwaysWritePomProjects;
+ 
     protected boolean isJavaProject()
     {
         return isJavaProject;
@@ -581,7 +592,7 @@
             throw new MojoExecutionException( Messages.getString( "EclipsePlugin.missingpom" ) ); //$NON-NLS-1$
         }
 
-        if ( "pom".equals( packaging ) && eclipseProjectDir == null ) //$NON-NLS-1$
+        if ( "pom".equals( packaging ) && eclipseProjectDir == null && !alwaysWritePomProjects ) //$NON-NLS-1$
         {
             getLog().info( Messages.getString( "EclipsePlugin.pompackaging" ) ); //$NON-NLS-1$
             return false;