diff --git a/rewrite-maven/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemoveProperty.java b/rewrite-maven/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemoveProperty.java
index c45af9f319f..15e3e27dbd0 100644
--- a/rewrite-maven/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemoveProperty.java
+++ b/rewrite-maven/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemoveProperty.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import org.openrewrite.Option;
 import org.openrewrite.Recipe;
 import org.openrewrite.TreeVisitor;
+import org.openrewrite.xml.RemoveContentVisitor;
 import org.openrewrite.xml.tree.Xml;
 
 @Value
@@ -51,7 +52,8 @@ private class RemovePropertyVisitor extends MavenVisitor<ExecutionContext> {
         @Override
         public Xml visitTag(Xml.Tag tag, ExecutionContext ctx) {
             if (isPropertyTag() && propertyName.equals(tag.getName())) {
-                return null;
+                doAfterVisit(new RemoveContentVisitor<>(tag, true));
+                maybeUpdateModel();
             }
             return super.visitTag(tag, ctx);
         }
diff --git a/rewrite-maven/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemovePropertyTest.java b/rewrite-maven/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemovePropertyTest.java
index 79137f4c6a1..ec7da455a79 100644
--- a/rewrite-maven/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemovePropertyTest.java
+++ b/rewrite-maven/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/maven/RemovePropertyTest.java
@@ -64,4 +64,34 @@ void removeProperty() {
           )
         );
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void removeOnlyProperty() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          pomXml(
+            """
+              <project>
+                <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                 
+                <groupId>com.mycompany.app</groupId>
+                <artifactId>my-app</artifactId>
+                <version>1</version>
+                
+                <properties>
+                  <bla.version>b</bla.version>
+                </properties>
+              </project>
+              """,
+            """
+              <project>
+                <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                 
+                <groupId>com.mycompany.app</groupId>
+                <artifactId>my-app</artifactId>
+                <version>1</version>
+              </project>
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
 }