diff --git a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/model/Regex.java b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/model/Regex.java
index 4356da2..27c9f61 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/model/Regex.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/model/Regex.java
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
  */
 package com.inteligr8.maven.model;
 
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
-
 public class Regex implements Normalizable {
 	
 	private String pattern;
@@ -41,8 +39,7 @@ public class Regex implements Normalizable {
 	
 	@Override
 	public void normalize() {
-		this.pattern = StringUtils.trimToNull(this.pattern);
-		this.replacement = StringUtils.trimToNull(this.replacement);
+		// do not trim
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/MatchFileContentMojo.java b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/MatchFileContentMojo.java
index 69bffa6..1b45d10 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/MatchFileContentMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/MatchFileContentMojo.java
@@ -89,10 +89,23 @@ public class MatchFileContentMojo extends AbstractMatchMojo {
 		return path;
     }
     
+    @Override
+    protected void validateParamsPreNormalization() throws MojoFailureException {
+    	super.validateParamsPreNormalization();
+    	
+    	if (this.filesets == null || this.filesets.isEmpty())
+    		throw new MojoFailureException("At least one 'fileset' is required");
+    }
+    
     @Override
     protected void normalizeParameters() throws MojoFailureException {
     	super.normalizeParameters();
     	
+    	for (FileSet fileset : this.filesets) {
+    		if (fileset.getDirectory() == null)
+    			fileset.setDirectory(this.project.getBasedir().getAbsolutePath());
+    	}
+    	
     	this.newProperty = StringUtils.trimToNull(this.newProperty);
     }
     
@@ -100,8 +113,6 @@ public class MatchFileContentMojo extends AbstractMatchMojo {
     protected void validateParamsPostNormalization() throws MojoFailureException {
     	super.validateParamsPostNormalization();
     	
-    	if (this.filesets == null || this.filesets.isEmpty())
-    		throw new MojoFailureException("At least one 'fileset' is required");
     	if (this.newProperty == null)
     		throw new MojoFailureException("The 'newProperty' element is required");
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/ReplaceFileContentMojo.java b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/ReplaceFileContentMojo.java
index 8ba9700..9487c85 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/ReplaceFileContentMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/ReplaceFileContentMojo.java
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public class ReplaceFileContentMojo extends AbstractReplaceMojo {
     		if (fileset.getDirectory() == null)
     			fileset.setDirectory(this.project.getBasedir().getAbsolutePath());
     		if (fileset.getOutputDirectory() == null)
-    			fileset.setOutputDirectory(this.project.getBasedir().getAbsolutePath());
+    			fileset.setOutputDirectory(fileset.getDirectory());
     	}
     }