diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
index c8c8599e4d..59741e15e6 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Manifest-Version: 1.0
 Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
 Bundle-Name: %Bundle-Name
 Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.m2e.core;singleton:=true
-Bundle-Version: 1.18.3.qualifier
+Bundle-Version: 1.18.4.qualifier
 Bundle-Activator: org.eclipse.m2e.core.internal.MavenPluginActivator
 Bundle-Vendor: %Bundle-Vendor
 Bundle-Localization: plugin
diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/pom.xml b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/pom.xml
index ea44831e80..3dc154eac9 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/pom.xml
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 	</parent>
 
 	<artifactId>org.eclipse.m2e.core</artifactId>
-	<version>1.18.3-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>1.18.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
 	<packaging>eclipse-plugin</packaging>
 
 	<name>Maven Integration for Eclipse Core Plug-in</name>
diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/embedder/IMaven.java b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/embedder/IMaven.java
index c050491ba0..a40071ae63 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/embedder/IMaven.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/embedder/IMaven.java
@@ -147,6 +147,17 @@ Map<File, MavenExecutionResult> readMavenProjects(Collection<File> pomFiles,
   @Deprecated MavenProject resolveParentProject(MavenExecutionRequest request, MavenProject project, IProgressMonitor monitor)
       throws CoreException;
 
+  /**
+   * Returns MavenProject parent project or null if no such project.
+   * 
+   * @param project
+   * @param monitor
+   * @return
+   * @throws CoreException
+   * @deprecated directly use <code>project.getParent()</code> whenever possible, and if parent needs to be re-resolved,
+   *             it's a responsibility of the consumer to do it in its code.
+   */
+  @Deprecated
   MavenProject resolveParentProject(MavenProject project, IProgressMonitor monitor) throws CoreException;
 
   // execution
diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/AnnotationMappingMetadataSource.java b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/AnnotationMappingMetadataSource.java
index 59d0170191..d36d9deda4 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/AnnotationMappingMetadataSource.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/AnnotationMappingMetadataSource.java
@@ -170,9 +170,14 @@ private PluginExecutionMetadata createMetadata(Xpp3Dom action) {
   }
 
   private static List<PI> parsePIs(MavenProject project) {
-
-    File pom = project.getFile();
     InputSource source = project.getModel().getLocation(SELF).getSource();
+    File pom = project.getFile();
+    if((pom == null || !pom.isFile()) && source.getLocation() != null) {
+      pom = new File(source.getLocation());
+    }
+    if(pom == null || !pom.isFile()) {
+      return List.of();
+    }
 
     List<PI> pis = new ArrayList<>();
 
diff --git a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/LifecycleMappingFactory.java b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/LifecycleMappingFactory.java
index 7a527d8aa9..4df04830cb 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/LifecycleMappingFactory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.m2e.core/src/org/eclipse/m2e/core/internal/lifecyclemapping/LifecycleMappingFactory.java
@@ -851,9 +851,7 @@ public static List<MappingMetadataSource> getPomMappingMetadataSources(MavenProj
         maven.detachFromSession(project); // don't cache maven session
       }
 
-      // TODO ideally, we need to reuse the same parent MavenProject instance in all child modules
-      //      each instance takes ~1M, so we can easily save 100M+ of heap for larger workspaces
-      project = maven.resolveParentProject(project, monitor);
+      project = project.getParent();
     } while(project != null);
 
     return sources;