diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 48ab97030b0..ca352e55445 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     <avro.docDir>build/avro-doc-${project.version}/api</avro.docDir>
 
     <!-- plugin versions -->
-    <apache-rat-plugin.version>0.17</apache-rat-plugin.version>
+    <apache-rat-plugin.version>0.18</apache-rat-plugin.version>
     <checkstyle-plugin.version>3.6.0</checkstyle-plugin.version>
     <checkstyle.version>13.3.0</checkstyle.version>
     <enforcer-plugin.version>3.6.2</enforcer-plugin.version>