Project variables not resolving when using Show In Reverse Dependency Explorer

1- At workspace level (window->Preferences->Ivy->Settings), set "Ivy Settings Path" and "Property Files" as follows:
Ivy Settings path: ${project_loc}/ivysettings.xml
Property Files: ${project_loc}/build.properties

2- Have a project with dependencies

3- Right click on the project and resolve to make sure that it results properly

4- Right-click on this project and try "Show In Reverse Dependency Tree" - an exception happens:

Unable to find a module descriptor associated with D:/workspace/project/ivy.xml

Error while resolving the ivy instance for ivy.xml in
'project':
Unrecognized variables in the Ivy settings file ${project_loc}/ivysettings.xml

Underlying error (org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException): Variable
references empty selection: ${project_loc}