diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f2a03ac..cfcbe3c 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -100,22 +100,6 @@
             <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents.client5</groupId>
             <artifactId>httpclient5</artifactId>
             <version>5.3</version>
-            <exclusions>
-                <!-- exclude old versions of slf4j-api and httpcore5 as newer versions can be used -->
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-                <exclusion>
-                    <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents.core5</groupId>
-                    <artifactId>httpcore5</artifactId>
-                </exclusion>
-            </exclusions>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents.core5</groupId>
-            <artifactId>httpcore5</artifactId>
-            <version>5.2.4</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.xmlgraphics</groupId>