diff --git a/opennlp-distr/pom.xml b/opennlp-distr/pom.xml
index b682a98ea..a12acfdc8 100644
--- a/opennlp-distr/pom.xml
+++ b/opennlp-distr/pom.xml
@@ -88,6 +88,12 @@
       <artifactId>opennlp-uima</artifactId>
     </dependency>
 
+    <!-- OpenNLP Docs - Ensure that "docs" are build before distribution -->
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.opennlp</groupId>
+      <artifactId>opennlp-docs</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
+
     <!-- ship the dist with a logging impl for cli users -->
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
diff --git a/opennlp-docs/pom.xml b/opennlp-docs/pom.xml
index 5606d69a6..d7632b8d0 100644
--- a/opennlp-docs/pom.xml
+++ b/opennlp-docs/pom.xml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
   </parent>
   
   <artifactId>opennlp-docs</artifactId>
-  <packaging>pom</packaging>
+  <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Apache OpenNLP :: Documentation</name>
 
 	<profiles>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index cac880667..09586e0e6 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -210,6 +210,12 @@
 				<version>${project.version}</version>
 			</dependency>
 
+			<dependency>
+				<artifactId>opennlp-docs</artifactId>
+				<groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId>
+				<version>${project.version}</version>
+			</dependency>
+
 		</dependencies>
 	</dependencyManagement>