  We reconsider the ingredients of moduli stabilization in heterotic M-theory.
On this line we close a gap in the literature deriving the Kaehler potential
dependence on vector bundle moduli and charged matter. Crucial in this
derivation is our superspace formulation of 5d heterotic M-theory taking into
account the Bianchi identities modified by brane terms. Likewise, we obtain the
Fayet-Iliopolous terms due to brane localised anomalous U(1)'s. After
assembling perturbative and non-perturbative contributions to the
superpotential, we study supersymmetric (adS) vacua. It is found that the susy
condition decouples the bundle moduli from the geometric moduli. We show that
M-theory supersymmetric vacua without five-branes can be found, albeit not at
phenomenologically interesting values of the geometric moduli. This result is
fairly independent of the choice of vector bundle at the observable brane.
