diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d9554ac968..7b94944c53 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
         <!-- Shared properties with plugins and version numbers across submodules-->
         <ant.version>1.6.5</ant.version>
         <asciidoctorj.version>2.5.2</asciidoctorj.version>
-        <bootstrap.version>3.3.7</bootstrap.version>
+        <bootstrap.version>3.4.1</bootstrap.version>
         <cglib.version>2.2</cglib.version> <!-- do not update necessary for lesson -->
         <checkstyle.version>3.1.2</checkstyle.version>
         <commons-collections.version>3.2.1</commons-collections.version>
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@
                                     <goal>start</goal>
                                 </goals>
                                 <configuration>
-                                    <workingDir></workingDir>
+                                    <workingDir/>
                                     <arguments>
                                         <argument>java</argument>
                                         <argument>-jar</argument>