diff --git a/azure-storage-blob-shaded/pom.xml b/azure-storage-blob-shaded/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a68e96e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/azure-storage-blob-shaded/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+
+
+
+
+ 4.0.0
+
+
+ io.confluent
+ kafka-connect-storage-common-parent
+ 10.3.0-SNAPSHOT
+
+
+ azure-storage-blob-shaded
+ jar
+ azure-storage-blob-shaded
+
+ azure-storage-blob shaded to replace dependencies that are shipped with Kafka
+ 2021
+
+
+ 12.11.1
+
+
+
+
+
+ maven-jar-plugin
+
+
+ org.apache.maven.plugins
+ maven-shade-plugin
+ 3.2.4
+
+
+ package
+
+ shade
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ com.azure:*
+ org.reactivestreams:*
+ com.fasterxml.jackson*:*
+ io.netty:*
+ io.projectreactor.netty:*
+ io.projectreactor:*
+ org.codehaus*:*
+ com.fasterxml.woodstox:*
+
+
+
+
+
+ io.confluent:*
+
+ **
+
+
+
+
+
+ com.azure
+ com.azure.shaded
+
+
+ io.netty
+ io.netty.shaded
+
+
+ io.projectreactor
+ io.projectreactor.shaded
+
+
+ reactor
+ reactor.shaded
+
+
+ com.fasterxml.jackson
+ com.fasterxml.jackson.shaded
+
+
+ org.reactivestreams
+ org.reactivestreams.shaded
+
+
+ org.codehaus
+ org.codehaus.shaded
+
+
+ com.fasterxml.woodstox
+ com.fasterxml.woodstox.shaded
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ com.azure
+ azure-storage-blob
+ ${azure-storage.version}
+
+
+
diff --git a/azure-storage-blob-shaded/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/storage/PlaceHolder.java b/azure-storage-blob-shaded/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/storage/PlaceHolder.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e5bb99d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/azure-storage-blob-shaded/src/main/java/io/confluent/connect/storage/PlaceHolder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2021 Confluent Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Confluent Community License (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.confluent.io/confluent-community-license
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package io.confluent.connect.storage;
+
+
+/**
+ * This class is added as a workaround to maven. Attempting to run both verify and install phases
+ * with maven fails if there's no source code in the project (the produced jar is empty).
+ *
+ * @see mvn
+ * clean verify deploy causes jar plugin to execute twice
+ * This fact subsequently fails the attempt to re-shade the dependencies without adding new
+ * code.
+ * The workaround is to introduce this class here, with the intention to remove it during shading by
+ * configuring a filter for maven-shade-plugin.
+ *
+ */
+public class PlaceHolder {
+
+
+}