diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/invoker.properties b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/invoker.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0c2248c2a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/invoker.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+invoker.goals = ${project.groupId}:${project.artifactId}:${project.version}:use-releases
+invoker.mavenOpts = -DprocessParent=true
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/pom.xml b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d201a94d7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>localhost</groupId>
+        <artifactId>dummy-parent2</artifactId>
+        <version>3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    </parent>
+
+    <artifactId>it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot</artifactId>
+    <version>1</version>
+    <packaging>pom</packaging>
+
+    <description>Test that parent is updated if it uses a snapshot version</description>
+
+</project>
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/verify.groovy b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/verify.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd6ea130c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-use-releases-issue-978-parent-snapshot/verify.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import groovy.xml.XmlSlurper
+
+def project = new XmlSlurper().parse( new File( basedir, 'pom.xml' ) )
+
+assert project.parent.version == '3.0'
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/AbstractVersionsDependencyUpdaterMojo.java b/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/AbstractVersionsDependencyUpdaterMojo.java
index 8804f9c4d9..7f0b90cdbb 100644
--- a/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/AbstractVersionsDependencyUpdaterMojo.java
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/AbstractVersionsDependencyUpdaterMojo.java
@@ -509,28 +509,49 @@ protected boolean updateDependencyVersion(
         boolean updated = false;
         if (isProcessingParent()
                 && getProject().getParent() != null
-                && DependencyComparator.INSTANCE.compare(
-                                dep,
-                                DependencyBuilder.newBuilder()
-                                        .withGroupId(
-                                                getProject().getParentArtifact().getGroupId())
-                                        .withArtifactId(
-                                                getProject().getParentArtifact().getArtifactId())
-                                        .withVersion(
-                                                getProject().getParentArtifact().getVersion())
-                                        .build())
-                        == 0
-                && PomHelper.setProjectParentVersion(pom, newVersion)) {
-            if (getLog().isDebugEnabled()) {
-                getLog().debug("Made parent update from " + dep.getVersion() + " to " + newVersion);
+                && (DependencyComparator.INSTANCE.compare(
+                                        dep,
+                                        DependencyBuilder.newBuilder()
+                                                .withGroupId(getProject()
+                                                        .getParentArtifact()
+                                                        .getGroupId())
+                                                .withArtifactId(getProject()
+                                                        .getParentArtifact()
+                                                        .getArtifactId())
+                                                .withVersion(getProject()
+                                                        .getParentArtifact()
+                                                        .getVersion())
+                                                .build())
+                                == 0
+                        || getProject().getParentArtifact().getBaseVersion() != null
+                                && DependencyComparator.INSTANCE.compare(
+                                                dep,
+                                                DependencyBuilder.newBuilder()
+                                                        .withGroupId(getProject()
+                                                                .getParentArtifact()
+                                                                .getGroupId())
+                                                        .withArtifactId(getProject()
+                                                                .getParentArtifact()
+                                                                .getArtifactId())
+                                                        .withVersion(getProject()
+                                                                .getParentArtifact()
+                                                                .getBaseVersion())
+                                                        .build())
+                                        == 0)) {
+            if (PomHelper.setProjectParentVersion(pom, newVersion)) {
+                if (getLog().isDebugEnabled()) {
+                    getLog().debug("Made parent update from " + dep.getVersion() + " to " + newVersion);
+                }
+                getChangeRecorder()
+                        .recordChange(DefaultDependencyChangeRecord.builder()
+                                .withKind(changeKind)
+                                .withDependency(dep)
+                                .withNewVersion(newVersion)
+                                .build());
+                updated = true;
+            } else {
+                getLog().warn("Could not update parent: " + dep.toString() + " to " + newVersion);
             }
-            getChangeRecorder()
-                    .recordChange(DefaultDependencyChangeRecord.builder()
-                            .withKind(changeKind)
-                            .withDependency(dep)
-                            .withNewVersion(newVersion)
-                            .build());
-            updated = true;
         }
 
         if (PomHelper.setDependencyVersion(
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UseReleasesMojoTest.java b/versions-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UseReleasesMojoTest.java
index 8580a04afd..e05be7f248 100644
--- a/versions-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UseReleasesMojoTest.java
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/test/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UseReleasesMojoTest.java
@@ -105,6 +105,49 @@ public void testProcessParent()
                         "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT", "1.0.0")));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testProcessTimestampedParent()
+            throws MojoExecutionException, XMLStreamException, MojoFailureException, IllegalAccessException,
+                    VersionRetrievalException {
+        setVariableValueToObject(mojo, "processParent", true);
+        mojo.getProject().setParent(new MavenProject(new Model() {
+            {
+                setGroupId("default-group");
+                setArtifactId("artifactA");
+                setVersion("1.0.0-SNAPSHOT");
+            }
+        }));
+        mojo.getProject()
+                .setParentArtifact(
+                        new DefaultArtifact(
+                                "default-group",
+                                "artifactA",
+                                "1.0.0-20230912.080442-1",
+                                SCOPE_COMPILE,
+                                "pom",
+                                "default",
+                                null) {
+                            {
+                                setBaseVersion("1.0.0-SNAPSHOT");
+                            }
+                        });
+
+        try (MockedStatic<PomHelper> pomHelper = mockStatic(PomHelper.class)) {
+            pomHelper
+                    .when(() -> PomHelper.setProjectParentVersion(any(), anyString()))
+                    .thenReturn(true);
+            pomHelper
+                    .when(() -> PomHelper.getRawModel(any(MavenProject.class)))
+                    .thenReturn(mojo.getProject().getModel());
+            mojo.update(null);
+        }
+        assertThat(
+                changeRecorder.getChanges(),
+                hasItem(new DefaultDependencyVersionChange(
+                        "default-group", "artifactA",
+                        "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT", "1.0.0")));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testReplaceSnapshotWithRelease()
             throws MojoExecutionException, XMLStreamException, MojoFailureException, VersionRetrievalException {