diff --git a/tool/updatepoms.rb b/tool/updatepoms.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ea45e82495
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tool/updatepoms.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+#
+# Release utility script to update all version numbers in POMs.
+#
+# Usage: updatepoms.rb <new-version>
+#
+class Pom
+  def initialize(filename)
+    @filename = filename
+    @lines = IO.readlines(filename)
+  end
+
+  def update_version(version)
+    group = nil
+    artifact = nil
+    @lines.each do |line|
+      match = line.match(%r{<groupId>([^<]+)</groupId>})
+      if match
+        group = match[1]
+        next
+      end
+      match = line.match(%r{<artifactId>([^<]+)</artifactId>})
+      if match
+        artifact = match[1]
+        next
+      end
+      if line =~ %r{<version>[0-9][^<]+</version>} && group =~ /^org.jruby/ && artifact =~ /^(jruby|shared)/
+        line.sub!(/<version>([^<]+)<\/version>/, "<version>#{version}</version>")
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  def save
+    File.open(@filename, 'w') {|f| @lines.each {|l| f << l } }
+  end
+end
+
+Version = ARGV.shift or abort("#$0 takes one argument, the new version")
+
+dir = ARGV.shift || Dir.pwd
+(Dir["#{dir}/**/pom.xml"]).each do |f|
+  puts "updating #{f}"
+  pom = Pom.new(f)
+  pom.update_version(Version)
+  pom.save
+end