diff --git a/src/it/replace-file-content/pom.xml b/src/it/replace-file-content/pom.xml
index a8b1fad..ec9d186 100644
--- a/src/it/replace-file-content/pom.xml
+++ b/src/it/replace-file-content/pom.xml
@@ -99,6 +99,31 @@
 							</regexes>
 						</configuration>
 					</execution>
+					<execution>
+						<id>inplace</id>
+						<phase>validate</phase>
+						<goals>
+							<goal>replace-file</goal>
+						</goals>
+						<configuration>
+							<filesets>
+								<fileset>
+									<includes>
+										<include>**/file12.txt</include>
+									</includes>
+									<excludes>
+										<exclude>target/**/*</exclude>
+									</excludes>
+								</fileset>
+							</filesets>
+							<regexes>
+								<regex>
+									<pattern>is supposed</pattern>
+									<replacement>is likely</replacement>
+								</regex>
+							</regexes>
+						</configuration>
+					</execution>
 				</executions>
 			</plugin>
 			<plugin>
@@ -143,6 +168,11 @@
 									<checksum>fb1f2b040970526fc99b1339f22465f1</checksum>
 									<type>md5</type>
 								</requireFileChecksum>
+								<requireFileChecksum>
+									<file>${basedir}/folder1/file12.txt</file>
+									<checksum>a7f509275e16ff57cd7756cdca70822a</checksum>
+									<type>md5</type>
+								</requireFileChecksum>
 							</rules>
 						</configuration>
 					</execution>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/model/Regex.java b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/model/Regex.java
index 4356da2..f9cb442 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 +39,8 @@ public class Regex implements Normalizable {
 	
 	@Override
 	public void normalize() {
-		this.pattern = StringUtils.trimToNull(this.pattern);
-		this.replacement = StringUtils.trimToNull(this.replacement);
+		if (this.replacement == null)
+			this.replacement = "";
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/AbstractReplaceMojo.java b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/AbstractReplaceMojo.java
index 65ffcda..946dd6f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/AbstractReplaceMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/AbstractReplaceMojo.java
@@ -14,10 +14,13 @@
  */
 package com.inteligr8.maven.regex;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.channels.FileChannel;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
 import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -130,10 +133,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractReplaceMojo extends AbstractRegexMojo {
 		if (this.getLog().isDebugEnabled())
 			this.getLog().debug("replace all: " + file + " => " + tofile);
 		
+		boolean overwrite = file.equals(tofile);
 		boolean didReplace = false;
 		Charset charset = Charset.forName(this.charsetName);
 		StringBuilder strbuilder = new StringBuilder();
 
+		if (overwrite) {
+			// if overwriting the existing file, use a temporary file
+			tofile = File.createTempFile("regexed-", ".tmp").toPath();
+		}
+		
 		FileChannel targetChannel = FileChannel.open(tofile, StandardOpenOption.WRITE, StandardOpenOption.CREATE, StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING);
 		try {
 			FileChannel sourceChannel = FileChannel.open(file, StandardOpenOption.READ);
@@ -177,6 +186,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractReplaceMojo extends AbstractRegexMojo {
 			targetChannel.close();
 		}
 		
+		if (overwrite) {
+			Files.move(tofile, file, StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);
+		}
+		
 		return didReplace;
 	}
 	
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 5ff1f2b..9487c85 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/ReplaceFileContentMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/inteligr8/maven/regex/ReplaceFileContentMojo.java
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ public class ReplaceFileContentMojo extends AbstractReplaceMojo {
     }
     
     private Path resolveDirectory(Path basepath, String directory, boolean createIfMissing, String errorName) throws IOException, MojoExecutionException {
+    	if (directory == null)
+    		return this.project.getBasedir().toPath();
+    	
 		Path path = new File(directory).toPath();
 		if (!path.isAbsolute())
 			path = basepath.resolve(path);
@@ -93,19 +96,23 @@ public class ReplaceFileContentMojo extends AbstractReplaceMojo {
     }
     
     @Override
-    protected void normalizeParameters() throws MojoFailureException {
-    	super.normalizeParameters();
+    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 validateParamsPostNormalization() throws MojoFailureException {
-    	super.validateParamsPostNormalization();
+    protected void normalizeParameters() throws MojoFailureException {
+    	super.normalizeParameters();
     	
-    	if (this.filesets == null || this.filesets.isEmpty())
-    		throw new MojoFailureException("At least one 'fileset' is required");
-    	for (FileSet fileset : this.filesets)
+    	for (FileSet fileset : this.filesets) {
+    		if (fileset.getDirectory() == null)
+    			fileset.setDirectory(this.project.getBasedir().getAbsolutePath());
     		if (fileset.getOutputDirectory() == null)
-    			throw new MojoFailureException("All 'fileset' must have an 'outputDirectory'");
+    			fileset.setOutputDirectory(fileset.getDirectory());
+    	}
     }
     
 }