diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 2a2e1e35a09c5..cd259cf48415e 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@
     <jets3t.version>0.7.1</jets3t.version>
     <aws.java.sdk.version>1.8.3</aws.java.sdk.version>
     <aws.kinesis.client.version>1.1.0</aws.kinesis.client.version>
+    <jackson.version>1.8.8</jackson.version>
 
     <PermGen>64m</PermGen>
     <MaxPermGen>512m</MaxPermGen>
@@ -750,11 +751,16 @@
           </exclusion>
         </exclusions>
       </dependency>
+      <!-- Matches the version of jackson-{mapper,core}-asl pulled in by avro -->
       <dependency>
-        <!-- Matches the version of jackson-core-asl pulled in by avro -->
         <groupId>org.codehaus.jackson</groupId>
         <artifactId>jackson-mapper-asl</artifactId>
-        <version>1.8.8</version>
+        <version>${jackson.version}</version>
+      </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.codehaus.jackson</groupId>
+        <artifactId>jackson-core-asl</artifactId>
+        <version>${jackson.version}</version>
       </dependency>
     </dependencies>
   </dependencyManagement>
@@ -1153,7 +1159,7 @@
         <dependency>
           <groupId>org.apache.zookeeper</groupId>
           <artifactId>zookeeper</artifactId>
-          <version>3.4.5-mapr-1406</version> 
+          <version>3.4.5-mapr-1406</version>
         </dependency>
       </dependencies>
     </profile>