Index: src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/AbstractCompilerMojo.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/AbstractCompilerMojo.java	(revision 833835)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/AbstractCompilerMojo.java	(working copy)
@@ -338,7 +338,13 @@
             }
             if ( !StringUtils.isEmpty( compilerArgument ) )
             {
-                cplrArgsCopy.put( compilerArgument, null );
+                final String[] args=compilerArgument.split(" ");
+                for (int i=0;i<args.length;i++) {
+                    final String arg=args[i];
+                    if (!StringUtils.isEmpty(arg)) {
+                        cplrArgsCopy.put( arg, null );
+                    }
+                }
             }
             compilerConfiguration.setCustomCompilerArguments( cplrArgsCopy );
         }