diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index a94365235e..7c6f4b738c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -92,6 +92,34 @@
   <build>
     <pluginManagement>
       <plugins>
+        <plugin>
+          <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+          <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
+          <version>1.4.1</version>
+          <executions>
+            <execution>
+              <id>enforce-java</id>
+              <goals>
+                <goal>enforce</goal>
+              </goals>
+              <configuration>
+                <rules>
+                  <!--
+                    Require Java 8 and above to build the distribution. Note
+                    that this is a requirement on process to build the
+                    distribution only. It is expected for the build to fail
+                    using Java 7, but the output is still required to work on
+                    Java 7.
+                  -->
+                  <requireJavaVersion>
+                    <version>[1.8.0,)</version>
+                  </requireJavaVersion>
+                </rules>
+              </configuration>
+            </execution>
+          </executions>
+        </plugin>
+
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
           <artifactId>maven-clean-plugin</artifactId>
@@ -264,6 +292,11 @@
     </pluginManagement>
 
     <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-enforcer-plugin</artifactId>
+      </plugin>
+
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>