diff --git a/maven-scm-plugin/pom.xml b/maven-scm-plugin/pom.xml
index 5fb5498..7590a99 100644
--- a/maven-scm-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/maven-scm-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -60,6 +60,15 @@
 
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.sonatype.plexus</groupId>
+      <artifactId>plexus-sec-dispatcher</artifactId>
+      <version>1.3</version>
+      <!-- Scoped as provided since it is necessary for compilation but is
+      available at plugin runtime via maven-X.X.X-uber.jar -->
+      <scope>provided</scope>
+    </dependency>
+    
+    <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.maven</groupId>
       <artifactId>maven-project</artifactId>
       <version>2.0</version>
diff --git a/maven-scm-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/scm/plugin/AbstractScmMojo.java b/maven-scm-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/scm/plugin/AbstractScmMojo.java
index 11e4665..056faf0 100644
--- a/maven-scm-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/scm/plugin/AbstractScmMojo.java
+++ b/maven-scm-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/scm/plugin/AbstractScmMojo.java
@@ -36,7 +36,15 @@ import org.apache.maven.scm.repository.ScmRepository;
 import org.apache.maven.scm.repository.ScmRepositoryException;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.Server;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.Settings;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.PlexusConstants;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.PlexusContainer;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.exception.ComponentLookupException;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.context.Context;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.context.ContextException;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.personality.plexus.lifecycle.phase.Contextualizable;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
+import org.sonatype.plexus.components.sec.dispatcher.SecDispatcher;
+import org.sonatype.plexus.components.sec.dispatcher.SecDispatcherException;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -49,8 +57,13 @@ import java.util.Properties;
  * @version $Id$
  */
 public abstract class AbstractScmMojo
-    extends AbstractMojo
+    extends AbstractMojo implements Contextualizable
 {
+	/**
+	 * The Maven container. Useful for lookups of services, like SecDispatcher.
+	 */
+    protected PlexusContainer container;
+
     /**
      * The SCM connection URL.
      *
@@ -164,6 +177,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractScmMojo
      */
     private Map providerImplementations;
 
+
+
     /** {@inheritDoc} */
     public void execute()
         throws MojoExecutionException
@@ -197,6 +212,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractScmMojo
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Injection site for setup of Maven container reference.
+     */
+    public void contextualize( Context context )
+        throws ContextException
+    {
+        container = (PlexusContainer) context.get( PlexusConstants.PLEXUS_KEY );
+    }
+
     protected void setConnectionType( String connectionType )
     {
         this.connectionType = connectionType;
@@ -342,7 +366,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractScmMojo
      *
      * @param repo not null
      */
-    private void loadInfosFromSettings( ScmProviderRepositoryWithHost repo )
+    private void loadInfosFromSettings( ScmProviderRepositoryWithHost repo ) throws MojoExecutionException
     {
         if ( username == null || password == null )
         {
@@ -366,7 +390,33 @@ public abstract class AbstractScmMojo
 
                 if ( password == null )
                 {
+                    //Retrieve the password from settings, possibly in encrypted form
                     password = this.settings.getServer( host ).getPassword();
+                    
+                    SecDispatcher sd = null;
+                    
+                    //Attempt to get the Security Dispatcher to decrypt the password.
+                    //Must allow for this to fail gracefully as decryption only arrived in Maven 2.1
+                    try {
+                      sd = (SecDispatcher)container.lookup( SecDispatcher.ROLE, "maven" );
+                    }
+                    catch ( ComponentLookupException e )
+                    {
+                        getLog().error( "Cannot lookup SecDispatcher for decryption. Are you using Maven 2.1 or higher?");
+                    }
+                    
+                    if ( sd != null )
+                    {
+                        try {
+                            //The decrypt method tests if the string really needs decryption
+                            // and returns the string unmodified if no decryption is warranted.
+                            password = sd.decrypt( password );
+                        }
+                        catch ( SecDispatcherException e )
+                        {
+                            throw new MojoExecutionException("Decryption error", e);
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
 
                 if ( privateKey == null )