diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 4e6697e4..ef685f80 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
     <its.ajp.port>2001</its.ajp.port>
     <!-- server port for it tests -->
     <its.server.port>2008</its.server.port>
-    <tomcat7Version>7.0.59</tomcat7Version>
+    <tomcat7Version>7.0.103</tomcat7Version>
     <tomcat8Version>8.0.14</tomcat8Version>
 
     <!-- to prevent isssues with last apache parent pom -->
diff --git a/tomcat7-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/tomcat/maven/plugin/tomcat7/run/AbstractRunMojo.java b/tomcat7-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/tomcat/maven/plugin/tomcat7/run/AbstractRunMojo.java
index fff9cb53..c195e30c 100644
--- a/tomcat7-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/tomcat/maven/plugin/tomcat7/run/AbstractRunMojo.java
+++ b/tomcat7-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/tomcat/maven/plugin/tomcat7/run/AbstractRunMojo.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import org.apache.catalina.valves.AccessLogValve;
 import org.apache.commons.io.IOUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.coyote.ajp.AbstractAjpProtocol;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.Artifact;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.factory.ArtifactFactory;
 import org.apache.maven.artifact.repository.ArtifactRepository;
@@ -1232,6 +1233,7 @@ private void startContainer()
                     {
                         ajpConnector.setAttribute( "address", address );
                     }
+                    ((AbstractAjpProtocol<?>) ajpConnector.getProtocolHandler()).setSecretRequired(false);
                     embeddedTomcat.getEngine().getService().addConnector( ajpConnector );
                 }