diff --git a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/AbstractWebAppMojo.java b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/AbstractWebAppMojo.java
index 95dc34ebe..10f18aa87 100644
--- a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/AbstractWebAppMojo.java
+++ b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/AbstractWebAppMojo.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import com.microsoft.azure.maven.webapp.configuration.ContainerSetting;
 import com.microsoft.azure.maven.webapp.configuration.DeploymentSlotSetting;
 import com.microsoft.azure.maven.webapp.configuration.DeploymentType;
 import org.apache.maven.model.Resource;
+import org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException;
 import org.apache.maven.plugins.annotations.Parameter;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.StringUtils;
 
@@ -256,7 +257,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractWebAppMojo extends AbstractAppServiceMojo {
         return containerSettings;
     }
 
-    public DeploymentType getDeploymentType() {
+    public DeploymentType getDeploymentType() throws MojoExecutionException {
         return DeploymentType.fromString(deploymentType);
     }
 
@@ -329,7 +330,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractWebAppMojo extends AbstractAppServiceMojo {
         map.put(JAVA_WEB_CONTAINER_KEY, getJavaWebContainer().toString());
         map.put(LINUX_RUNTIME_KEY, StringUtils.isEmpty(linuxRuntime) ? "" : linuxRuntime);
         map.put(DOCKER_IMAGE_TYPE_KEY, WebAppUtils.getDockerImageType(getContainerSettings()).toString());
-        map.put(DEPLOYMENT_TYPE_KEY, getDeploymentType().toString());
+
+        try {
+            map.put(DEPLOYMENT_TYPE_KEY, getDeploymentType().toString());
+        } catch (MojoExecutionException e) {
+            map.put(DEPLOYMENT_TYPE_KEY, DeploymentType.UNKNOWN_DEPLOYMENT_TYPE);
+        }
         return map;
     }
 
diff --git a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/configuration/DeploymentType.java b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/configuration/DeploymentType.java
index d6f4237a7..9868347ca 100644
--- a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/configuration/DeploymentType.java
+++ b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/configuration/DeploymentType.java
@@ -29,11 +29,12 @@ public enum DeploymentType {
     ZIP(new ZIPHandler()),
     WAR(new WARHandler()),
     JAR(new JARHandler()),
-    AUTO(new AUTOHandler()),
-    UNKNOWN(new UNKNOWNHandler());
+    AUTO(new AUTOHandler());
 
     private Handler handler;
 
+    public static final String UNKNOWN_DEPLOYMENT_TYPE = "Unknown deployment type.";
+
     DeploymentType(Handler handler) {
         this.handler = handler;
     }
@@ -50,9 +51,9 @@ public enum DeploymentType {
         return handler.apply(mojo);
     }
 
-    public static DeploymentType fromString(final String input) {
+    public static DeploymentType fromString(final String input) throws MojoExecutionException {
         if (StringUtils.isEmpty(input)) {
-            return NONE;
+            throw new MojoExecutionException(UNKNOWN_DEPLOYMENT_TYPE);
         }
 
         switch (input.toUpperCase(Locale.ENGLISH)) {
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ public enum DeploymentType {
             case "AUTO":
                 return AUTO;
             default:
-                return UNKNOWN;
+                throw new MojoExecutionException(UNKNOWN_DEPLOYMENT_TYPE);
         }
     }
 
@@ -85,16 +86,16 @@ public enum DeploymentType {
     }
 
     static class AUTOHandler implements Handler {
-        public ArtifactHandler apply(AbstractWebAppMojo m) {
+        public ArtifactHandler apply(AbstractWebAppMojo m) throws MojoExecutionException {
             String packaging = m.getProject().getPackaging();
-            packaging = packaging != null ? packaging.toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH) : "";
-            switch (packaging.trim()) {
+            packaging = packaging != null ? packaging.toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH).trim() : "";
+            switch (packaging) {
                 case "war":
                     return new WarArtifactHandlerImpl(m);
                 case "jar":
                     return new JarArtifactHandlerImpl(m);
                 default:
-                    return new NONEArtifactHandlerImpl(m);
+                    throw new MojoExecutionException(UNKNOWN_DEPLOYMENT_TYPE);
             }
         }
     }
@@ -122,10 +123,4 @@ public enum DeploymentType {
             return new JarArtifactHandlerImpl(m);
         }
     }
-
-    static class UNKNOWNHandler implements Handler {
-        public ArtifactHandler apply(AbstractWebAppMojo m) {
-            throw new RuntimeException("Unknown deployment type.");
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/DeployMojoTest.java b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/DeployMojoTest.java
index 96574b2a5..ca2d73e05 100644
--- a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/DeployMojoTest.java
+++ b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/microsoft/azure/maven/webapp/DeployMojoTest.java
@@ -143,13 +143,19 @@ public class DeployMojoTest {
 
         assertEquals(1, mojo.getAppSettings().size());
 
-        assertEquals(DeploymentType.NONE, mojo.getDeploymentType());
+        assertEquals(DeploymentType.AUTO, mojo.getDeploymentType());
 
         assertEquals(1, mojo.getResources().size());
 
         assertFalse(mojo.isStopAppDuringDeployment());
     }
 
+    @Test(expected = MojoExecutionException.class)
+    public void getDeploymentTypeThrowException() throws Exception {
+        final DeployMojo mojo = getMojoFromPom("/pom-slot.xml");
+        mojo.getDeploymentType();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void getConfigurationForWindows() throws Exception {
         final DeployMojo mojo = getMojoFromPom("/pom-windows.xml");
diff --git a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/pom-linux.xml b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/pom-linux.xml
index e5d36421a..e2e130370 100644
--- a/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/pom-linux.xml
+++ b/azure-webapp-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/pom-linux.xml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
                             <value>80</value>
                         </property>
                     </appSettings>
+                    <deploymentType>auto</deploymentType>
                     <resources>
                         <resource>
                             <directory>${baseDir}/target</directory>