diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/ivy/IvyResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/ivy/IvyResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy
index 8e1d8e31..77e43dde 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/ivy/IvyResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/ivy/IvyResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy
@@ -15,10 +15,9 @@
  */
 package nebula.plugin.publishing.ivy
 
-import org.gradle.api.GradleException
+import nebula.plugin.publishing.verification.DirectDependenciesVerifier
 import org.gradle.api.Plugin
 import org.gradle.api.Project
-import org.gradle.api.artifacts.ExcludeRule
 import org.gradle.api.publish.ivy.IvyPublication
 
 /**
@@ -30,7 +29,7 @@ class IvyResolvedDependenciesPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
         project.plugins.apply IvyBasePublishPlugin
 
         project.afterEvaluate {
-            verifyFirstDependencyExclusions(project)
+            DirectDependenciesVerifier.verify(project)
             project.publishing {
                 publications {
                     withType(IvyPublication) {
@@ -44,22 +43,4 @@ class IvyResolvedDependenciesPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
             }
         }
     }
-
-    private void verifyFirstDependencyExclusions(Project project) {
-        project.configurations.forEach { configuration ->
-            configuration.dependencies.forEach { dependency ->
-                ExcludeRule exclude
-                try {
-                    exclude = configuration.excludeRules.find {
-                        it.group == dependency.group && it.module == dependency.name
-                    }
-                } catch (e) {
-                    // leave exclude null in case of unknown configuration
-                }
-                if(exclude) {
-                    throw new GradleException("Direct dependency \"${dependency.group}:${dependency.name}\" is excluded, delete direct dependency or stop excluding it")
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy
index 48ba324f..e5fc741f 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPlugin.groovy
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 package nebula.plugin.publishing.maven
 
+import nebula.plugin.publishing.verification.DirectDependenciesVerifier
 import org.gradle.api.Plugin
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 import org.gradle.api.publish.maven.MavenPublication
@@ -26,8 +27,8 @@ class MavenResolvedDependenciesPlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
     @Override
     void apply(Project project) {
         project.plugins.apply MavenBasePublishPlugin
-
         project.afterEvaluate {
+            DirectDependenciesVerifier.verify(project)
             project.publishing {
                 publications {
                     withType(MavenPublication) {
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/verification/DirectDependenciesVerifier.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/verification/DirectDependenciesVerifier.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dd7823c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/verification/DirectDependenciesVerifier.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2019 Netflix, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package nebula.plugin.publishing.verification
+
+import groovy.transform.CompileStatic
+import org.gradle.api.GradleException
+import org.gradle.api.Project
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.Configuration
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.Dependency
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.ExcludeRule
+
+@CompileStatic
+class DirectDependenciesVerifier {
+    static void verify(Project project) {
+        project.configurations.forEach { Configuration configuration ->
+            configuration.dependencies.forEach() { Dependency dependency ->
+                ExcludeRule exclude
+                try {
+                    exclude = configuration.excludeRules.find {
+                        it.group == dependency.group && it.module == dependency.name
+                    }
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    // leave exclude null in case of unknown configuration
+                }
+                if(exclude) {
+                    throw new GradleException("Direct dependency \"${dependency.group}:${dependency.name}\" is excluded, delete direct dependency or stop excluding it")
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPluginIntegrationSpec.groovy b/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPluginIntegrationSpec.groovy
index f81d9bda..adcdcbfc 100644
--- a/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPluginIntegrationSpec.groovy
+++ b/src/test/groovy/nebula/plugin/publishing/maven/MavenResolvedDependenciesPluginIntegrationSpec.groovy
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ class MavenResolvedDependenciesPluginIntegrationSpec extends IntegrationTestKitS
     File publishDir
 
     def setup() {
+        debug = true
         buildFile << """\
             plugins {
                 id 'nebula.maven-resolved-dependencies'
@@ -280,6 +281,35 @@ class MavenResolvedDependenciesPluginIntegrationSpec extends IntegrationTestKitS
         a.version == '1.0.0'
     }
 
+    def 'excluded first order dependencies fail the build'() {
+        def graph = new DependencyGraphBuilder().addModule('test.resolved:a:1.0.0')
+                .addModule(new ModuleBuilder('test.resolved:b:1.0.0').addDependency('test.resolved:a:1.0.0').build())
+                .build()
+        File mavenrepo = new GradleDependencyGenerator(graph, "${projectDir}/testrepogen").generateTestMavenRepo()
+
+        buildFile << """\
+            apply plugin: 'java'
+
+            repositories { maven { url '${mavenrepo.absolutePath}' } }
+
+            configurations.all {
+                exclude group: 'test.resolved', module: 'a'
+            }
+
+            dependencies {
+                compile 'test.resolved:b:1.0.0'
+                compile 'test.resolved:a'
+            }
+            """.stripIndent()
+
+        when:
+        def result = runTasksAndFail('publishNebulaPublicationToTestLocalRepository')
+
+        then:
+        def expectedMessage = 'Direct dependency "test.resolved:a" is excluded, delete direct dependency or stop excluding it'
+        result.output.contains(expectedMessage)
+    }
+
     def findDependency(String artifactId) {
         def root = new XmlSlurper().parseText(new File(publishDir, 'resolvedmaventest-0.1.0.pom').text)
         def d = root.dependencies.dependency.find {