diff --git a/xwiki-commons-core/xwiki-commons-component/xwiki-commons-component-api/src/main/java/org/xwiki/component/descriptor/DefaultComponentDependency.java b/xwiki-commons-core/xwiki-commons-component/xwiki-commons-component-api/src/main/java/org/xwiki/component/descriptor/DefaultComponentDependency.java
index f3e67627a5..c2eea8d07d 100644
--- a/xwiki-commons-core/xwiki-commons-component/xwiki-commons-component-api/src/main/java/org/xwiki/component/descriptor/DefaultComponentDependency.java
+++ b/xwiki-commons-core/xwiki-commons-component/xwiki-commons-component-api/src/main/java/org/xwiki/component/descriptor/DefaultComponentDependency.java
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public String getName()
     @Override
     public String[] getHints()
     {
-        return this.hints;
+        return this.hints.clone();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ public void setName(String name)
      */
     public void setHints(String[] hints)
     {
-        this.hints = hints;
+        this.hints = hints.clone();
     }
 
     /**