diff --git a/maven.embedder/src/org/netbeans/modules/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java b/maven.embedder/src/org/netbeans/modules/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java
--- a/maven.embedder/src/org/netbeans/modules/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java
+++ b/maven.embedder/src/org/netbeans/modules/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@
         req.setLocalRepository(localRepository);
         req.setRemoteRepositories(remoteRepositories);
         req.setArtifact(sources);
+        req.setOffline(embedderConfiguration.isOffline());
         // XXX need to somehow use ProgressTransferListener.activeListener() here; CreateLibraryAction's use of ProgressTransferListener.cancellable() also probably a no-op until setAggregateHandle called
         repositorySystem.resolve(req);
         // XXX check result for exceptions and throw them now?