diff --git a/src/it/projects/MJAVADOC-528/pom.xml b/src/it/projects/MJAVADOC-528/pom.xml
index 816d94149..cc845df89 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/MJAVADOC-528/pom.xml
+++ b/src/it/projects/MJAVADOC-528/pom.xml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
           <version>@project.version@</version>
           <configuration>
             <detectLinks>true</detectLinks>
+            <validateLinks>true</validateLinks>
           </configuration>
         </plugin>
       </plugins>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/AbstractJavadocMojo.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/AbstractJavadocMojo.java
index 7e62bcc6b..93bb7b712 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/AbstractJavadocMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/AbstractJavadocMojo.java
@@ -3759,13 +3759,14 @@ private void addLinkofflineArguments(List<String> arguments, Set<OfflineLink> of
             if (location == null || location.isEmpty()) {
                 continue;
             }
-            if (isValidJavadocLink(location, false)) {
-                addArgIfNotEmpty(
-                        arguments,
-                        "-linkoffline",
-                        JavadocUtil.quotedPathArgument(url) + " " + JavadocUtil.quotedPathArgument(location),
-                        true);
+            if (validateLinks && !isValidJavadocLink(location, false)) {
+                continue;
             }
+            addArgIfNotEmpty(
+                    arguments,
+                    "-linkoffline",
+                    JavadocUtil.quotedPathArgument(url) + " " + JavadocUtil.quotedPathArgument(location),
+                    true);
         }
     }
 
@@ -5617,7 +5618,11 @@ private List<String> getDependenciesLinks() {
                 }
             }
 
-            if (url != null && isValidJavadocLink(url, detected)) {
+            if (url != null) {
+                if (validateLinks && !isValidJavadocLink(url, detected)) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 getLog().debug("Added Javadoc link: " + url + " for " + artifact.getId());
 
                 dependenciesLinks.add(url);
@@ -5814,14 +5819,14 @@ protected boolean isValidJavadocLink(String link, boolean detecting) {
             }
 
             try {
-                if (JavadocUtil.isValidElementList(elementListUri.toURL(), settings, validateLinks)) {
+                if (JavadocUtil.isValidElementList(elementListUri.toURL(), settings)) {
                     return true;
                 }
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 // ignore this because it is optional
             }
 
-            if (JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(packageListUri.toURL(), settings, validateLinks)) {
+            if (JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(packageListUri.toURL(), settings)) {
                 return true;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtil.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtil.java
index 5bd3fb7a3..f5710ad88 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtil.java
@@ -1333,52 +1333,55 @@ protected static URL getRedirectUrl(URL url, Settings settings) throws IOExcepti
     }
 
     /**
-     * Validates an <code>URL</code> to point to a valid <code>package-list</code> resource.
+     * Validates the <code>URL</code> (content) to point to a valid <code>package-list</code> resource.
      *
-     * @param url The URL to validate.
+     * @param url The URL (content) to validate.
      * @param settings The user settings used to configure the connection to the URL or {@code null}.
-     * @param validateContent <code>true</code> to validate the content of the <code>package-list</code> resource;
-     *            <code>false</code> to only check the existence of the <code>package-list</code> resource.
      * @return <code>true</code> if <code>url</code> points to a valid <code>package-list</code> resource;
      *         <code>false</code> else.
      * @throws IOException if reading the resource fails.
      * @see #createHttpClient(org.apache.maven.settings.Settings, java.net.URL)
      * @since 2.8
      */
-    protected static boolean isValidPackageList(URL url, Settings settings, boolean validateContent)
-            throws IOException {
+    protected static boolean isValidPackageList(URL url, Settings settings) throws IOException {
         if (url == null) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The url is null");
+            throw new NullPointerException("The url is null");
         }
 
         try (BufferedReader reader = getReader(url, settings)) {
-            if (validateContent) {
-                for (String line = reader.readLine(); line != null; line = reader.readLine()) {
-                    if (!isValidPackageName(line)) {
-                        return false;
-                    }
+            for (String line = reader.readLine(); line != null; line = reader.readLine()) {
+                if (!isValidPackageName(line)) {
+                    return false;
                 }
             }
             return true;
         }
     }
 
-    protected static boolean isValidElementList(URL url, Settings settings, boolean validateContent)
-            throws IOException {
+    /**
+     * Validates the <code>URL</code> (content) to point to a valid <code>element-list</code> resource.
+     *
+     * @param url The URL (content) to validate.
+     * @param settings The user settings used to configure the connection to the URL or {@code null}.
+     * @return <code>true</code> if <code>url</code> points to a valid <code>element-list</code> resource;
+     *         <code>false</code> else.
+     * @throws IOException if reading the resource fails.
+     * @see #createHttpClient(org.apache.maven.settings.Settings, java.net.URL)
+     * @since 3.1.0
+     */
+    protected static boolean isValidElementList(URL url, Settings settings) throws IOException {
         if (url == null) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The url is null");
+            throw new NullPointerException("The url is null");
         }
 
         try (BufferedReader reader = getReader(url, settings)) {
-            if (validateContent) {
-                for (String line = reader.readLine(); line != null; line = reader.readLine()) {
-                    if (line.startsWith("module:")) {
-                        continue;
-                    }
+            for (String line = reader.readLine(); line != null; line = reader.readLine()) {
+                if (line.startsWith("module:")) {
+                    continue;
+                }
 
-                    if (!isValidPackageName(line)) {
-                        return false;
-                    }
+                if (!isValidPackageName(line)) {
+                    return false;
                 }
             }
             return true;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtilTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtilTest.java
index a421706ff..5516c308a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtilTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/javadoc/JavadocUtilTest.java
@@ -249,17 +249,17 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
         URL url = null;
         URL wrongUrl;
         try {
-            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, false);
+            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings);
             fail();
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+        } catch (NullPointerException e) {
             assertTrue(true);
         }
 
         url = new File(getBasedir(), "/pom.xml").toURI().toURL();
-        assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, false));
+        assertFalse(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
 
         try {
-            assertFalse(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true));
+            assertFalse(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
         } catch (IOException e) {
             assertTrue(true);
         }
@@ -268,14 +268,14 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
                 .getResource("/JavadocUtilTest-package-list.txt")
                 .toURI()
                 .toURL();
-        assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true));
+        assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
 
         url = new URL("http://maven.apache.org/plugins-archives/maven-javadoc-plugin-3.5.0/apidocs/package-list");
-        assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true));
+        assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
 
         wrongUrl = new URL("http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-javadoc-plugin/apidocs/package-list2");
         try {
-            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(wrongUrl, settings, false);
+            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(wrongUrl, settings);
             fail();
         } catch (IOException e) {
             assertTrue(true);
@@ -291,10 +291,10 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
 
             settings = new Settings();
 
-            assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true));
+            assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
 
             try {
-                JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(wrongUrl, settings, false);
+                JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(wrongUrl, settings);
                 fail();
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 assertTrue(true);
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
             proxy.setProtocol("http");
             settings.addProxy(proxy);
 
-            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, false);
+            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings);
             fail();
         } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
             assertTrue(true);
@@ -345,10 +345,10 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
             proxy.setPassword("bar");
             settings.addProxy(proxy);
 
-            assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true));
+            assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
 
             try {
-                JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(wrongUrl, settings, false);
+                JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(wrongUrl, settings);
                 fail();
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 assertTrue(true);
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
             proxy.setPassword("bar");
             settings.addProxy(proxy);
 
-            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true);
+            JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings);
             fail();
         } catch (SocketTimeoutException e) {
             assertTrue(true);
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ public void testIsValidPackageList() throws Exception {
             proxy.setNonProxyHosts("maven.apache.org");
             settings.addProxy(proxy);
 
-            assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings, true));
+            assertTrue(JavadocUtil.isValidPackageList(url, settings));
         } finally {
             proxyServer.stop();
         }