diff --git a/gradle/java-setup.gradle b/gradle/java-setup.gradle
index 5d9d756414..9c9f394405 100644
--- a/gradle/java-setup.gradle
+++ b/gradle/java-setup.gradle
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ apply plugin: 'com.github.spotbugs'
 spotbugs {
 	toolVersion = VER_SPOTBUGS
 	ignoreFailures = false 	// bug free or it doesn't ship!
-	reportsDir = file('build/spotbugs')
 	reportLevel = 'medium'	// low|medium|high (low = sensitive to even minor mistakes)
 	omitVisitors = [
 		'FindReturnRef'] // https://spotbugs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/detectors.html#findreturnref
@@ -25,6 +24,15 @@ spotbugs {
 tasks.named('spotbugsTest') {
 	enabled = false
 }
+
+tasks.withType(com.github.spotbugs.snom.SpotBugsTask).configureEach {
+	outputs.file(project.layout.buildDirectory.file("reports/spotbugs/${it.name}.html"))
+	outputs.file(project.layout.buildDirectory.file("spotbugs/auxclasspath/${it.name}"))
+	reports {
+		html.enabled = true
+	}
+}
+
 tasks.named('spotbugsMain') {
 	// only run on Java 8 (no benefit to running twice)
 	enabled = org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.current() == org.gradle.api.JavaVersion.VERSION_11
diff --git a/plugin-maven/build.gradle b/plugin-maven/build.gradle
index 0905f58c24..174f10ef6a 100644
--- a/plugin-maven/build.gradle
+++ b/plugin-maven/build.gradle
@@ -24,10 +24,9 @@ visteg {
 import com.github.mustachejava.DefaultMustacheFactory
 
 import java.nio.file.Files
-import java.nio.file.Paths
 
 import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8
-import static java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption.CREATE_NEW
+import static java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption.CREATE
 import static java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption.TRUNCATE_EXISTING
 
 ext.artifactId = project.artifactIdMaven
@@ -35,10 +34,8 @@ version = spotlessChangelog.versionNext
 apply from: rootProject.file("gradle/java-setup.gradle")
 apply from: rootProject.file("gradle/java-publish.gradle")
 
-final PROJECT_DIR = project.projectDir.toString()
-final BUILD_DIR = project.buildDir.toString()
-final MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR = "${BUILD_DIR}/mavenProject"
-final LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR = "${BUILD_DIR}/localMavenRepository"
+final MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR = project.layout.buildDirectory.dir("mavenProject").get()
+final LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR = project.layout.buildDirectory.dir("localMavenRepository").get()
 
 def mvnw(String args) {
 	boolean isWin = System.getProperty('os.name').toLowerCase().contains('win')
@@ -91,11 +88,9 @@ dependencies {
 	testImplementation "org.apache.maven:maven-core:${VER_MAVEN_API}"
 }
 
-task cleanMavenProjectDir(type: Delete) { delete MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR }
-
-task copySourceFiles(type: Sync, dependsOn: cleanMavenProjectDir) {
+task copySourceFiles(type: Sync) {
 	from "src/main/java"
-	into "${MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR}/src/main/java"
+	into MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR.dir("src/main/java")
 }
 
 task copyMvnw(type: Copy, dependsOn: copySourceFiles) {
@@ -122,7 +117,7 @@ libs.each {
 		workingDir MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR
 
 		inputs.file(file)
-		outputs.dir(project.file("${LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR}/${groupId.replace('.', '/')}/${artifactId}/${version}"))
+		outputs.dir(LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR.file(groupId.replace('.', '/') + "/" + artifactId + "/" + version))
 		commandLine mvnw("org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-install-plugin:2.3.1:install-file " +
 				"-Dfile=${file} " +
 				"-DgroupId=${groupId} " +
@@ -137,6 +132,9 @@ libs.each {
 }
 
 task createPomXml(dependsOn: installLocalDependencies) {
+	def newPomXml = MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR.file("pom.xml").asFile.toPath()
+
+	outputs.file(newPomXml)
 	doLast {
 		def additionalDependencies = project.configurations.runtimeClasspath.resolvedConfiguration.resolvedArtifacts.findAll {
 			return !libs.contains(it.moduleVersion.id.name)
@@ -157,11 +155,10 @@ task createPomXml(dependsOn: installLocalDependencies) {
 			additionalDependencies    : additionalDependencies
 		]
 
-		def pomXmlTemplate = Paths.get(PROJECT_DIR, "src/test/resources/pom-build.xml.mustache")
-		def newPomXml = Paths.get(MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR, "pom.xml")
+		def pomXmlTemplate = project.layout.projectDirectory.file("src/test/resources/pom-build.xml.mustache").asFile.toPath()
 
 		Files.newBufferedReader(pomXmlTemplate).withCloseable { reader ->
-			Files.newBufferedWriter(newPomXml, UTF_8, CREATE_NEW, TRUNCATE_EXISTING).withCloseable { writer ->
+			Files.newBufferedWriter(newPomXml, UTF_8, CREATE, TRUNCATE_EXISTING).withCloseable { writer ->
 				def mustache = new DefaultMustacheFactory().compile(reader, "pom")
 				mustache.execute(writer, versions)
 			}
@@ -170,11 +167,12 @@ task createPomXml(dependsOn: installLocalDependencies) {
 }
 
 task runMavenBuild(type: Exec, dependsOn: [
-	cleanMavenProjectDir,
 	copySourceFiles,
 	copyMvnw,
 	createPomXml
 ]) {
+	outputs.dir(LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR)
+
 	workingDir MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR
 	// -B batch mode to make dependency download logging less verbose
 	commandLine mvnw("clean install -B -Dmaven.repo.local=${LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR}")
@@ -182,7 +180,7 @@ task runMavenBuild(type: Exec, dependsOn: [
 
 jar.setActions Arrays.asList()
 jar.dependsOn(runMavenBuild)
-File jarIn = file("${MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR}/target/spotless-maven-plugin-${version}.jar")
+File jarIn = MAVEN_PROJECT_DIR.file("target/spotless-maven-plugin-${version}.jar").asFile
 File jarOut = jar.archivePath
 jar.inputs.file(jarIn)
 jar.outputs.file(jarOut)
@@ -195,7 +193,7 @@ test { useJUnitPlatform() }
 apply from: rootProject.file('gradle/special-tests.gradle')
 
 tasks.withType(Test) {
-	systemProperty "localMavenRepositoryDir", LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR
+	systemProperty "localMavenRepositoryDir", LOCAL_MAVEN_REPO_DIR.asFile
 	systemProperty "spotlessMavenPluginVersion", project.version
 	dependsOn(jar)
 }