--- a/depgenerators/maven.req
+++ b/depgenerators/maven.req
@@ -294,9 +294,9 @@ class TagBuilder(object):
     def _get_java_requires(self, reqs):
         major, minor = max([self._parse_java_requires(x) for x in reqs])
         if minor:
-            return "1:{0}.{1}".format(major, minor)
+            return "{0}.{1}".format(major, minor)
         else:
-            return "1:{0}".format(major)
+            return "{0}".format(major)
 
     def _parse_java_requires(self, req):
         match = re.match(r'^(\d+)(?:\.(\d+))?$', req)
--- a/test/maven_req_test.py
+++ b/test/maven_req_test.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class TestMavenReq(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(return_value, 0, stderr)
         sout = [x for x in stdout.split('\n') if x]
         want = ("javapackages-filesystem", "mvn(org.apache.maven:maven-project)",
-                "java-headless >= 1:1.6")
+                "java-headless >= 1.6")
         self.assertEqual(set(want), set(sout))
 
     @mavenreq(["require-java2/buildroot/usr/share/maven-metadata/require.xml"])
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class TestMavenReq(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(return_value, 0, stderr)
         sout = [x for x in stdout.split('\n') if x]
         want = ("javapackages-filesystem", "mvn(org.apache.maven:maven-project)",
-                "java-headless >= 1:1.8")
+                "java-headless >= 1.8")
         self.assertEqual(set(want), set(sout))
 
     @mavenreq(["require-java3/buildroot/usr/share/maven-metadata/require.xml"])
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class TestMavenReq(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(return_value, 0, stderr)
         sout = [x for x in stdout.split('\n') if x]
         want = ("javapackages-filesystem", "mvn(org.apache.maven:maven-project)",
-                "java-headless >= 1:1.8")
+                "java-headless >= 1.8")
         self.assertEqual(set(want), set(sout))
 
     @mavenreq(["require-java9/buildroot/usr/share/maven-metadata/require.xml"])
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class TestMavenReq(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(return_value, 0, stderr)
         sout = [x for x in stdout.split('\n') if x]
         want = ("javapackages-filesystem", "mvn(org.apache.maven:maven-project)",
-                "java-headless >= 1:9")
+                "java-headless >= 9")
         self.assertEqual(set(want), set(sout))
 
     @mavenreq(["require-java10/buildroot/usr/share/maven-metadata/require.xml"])
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class TestMavenReq(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(return_value, 0, stderr)
         sout = [x for x in stdout.split('\n') if x]
         want = ("javapackages-filesystem", "mvn(org.apache.maven:maven-project)",
-                "java-headless >= 1:10")
+                "java-headless >= 10")
         self.assertEqual(set(want), set(sout))
 
     @mavenreq(["require-java9and10/buildroot/usr/share/maven-metadata/require.xml"])
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class TestMavenReq(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(return_value, 0, stderr)
         sout = [x for x in stdout.split('\n') if x]
         want = ("javapackages-filesystem", "mvn(org.apache.maven:maven-project)",
-                "java-headless >= 1:10")
+                "java-headless >= 10")
         self.assertEqual(set(want), set(sout))
 
     @mavenreq(["require-java-fail/buildroot/usr/share/maven-metadata/require.xml"])