diff --git a/.github/scripts/BinariesListUpdates.java b/.github/scripts/BinariesListUpdates.java
index 5b1b209fa814..6a64515f5ee3 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/BinariesListUpdates.java
+++ b/.github/scripts/BinariesListUpdates.java
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.LongAdder;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
-import org.apache.maven.search.api.Record;
 import org.apache.maven.search.api.SearchRequest;
 import org.apache.maven.search.backend.smo.SmoSearchBackend;
 import org.apache.maven.search.backend.smo.SmoSearchBackendFactory;
+import org.apache.maven.artifact.versioning.ComparableVersion;
 
 import static java.util.FormatProcessor.FMT;
 import static org.apache.maven.search.api.MAVEN.ARTIFACT_ID;
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@
  */
 public class BinariesListUpdates {
 
+    private static final LongAdder updates = new LongAdder();
+    private static final LongAdder checks = new LongAdder();
+    private static final LongAdder skips = new LongAdder();
+
     // java --enable-preview --source 22 --class-path "lib/*" BinariesListUpdates.java /path/to/netbeans/project
     public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
 
@@ -63,6 +67,8 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException, InterruptedException
                 }
             });
         }
+
+        System.out.println(STR."checked \{checks.sum()} dependencies, found \{updates.sum()} updates, skipped \{skips.sum()}." );
     }
 
     private static void checkDependencies(Path path, SmoSearchBackend backend) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
@@ -91,15 +97,18 @@ private static void checkDependencies(Path path, SmoSearchBackend backend) throw
                             latest = queryLatestVersion(backend, gid, aid, classifier.split("@")[0]);
                             gac = String.join(":", gid, aid, classifier);
                         }
-                        if (!version.equals(latest)) {
+                        if (latest != null && !version.equals(latest)) {
                             System.out.println(FMT."    %-50s\{gac} \{version} -> \{latest}");
+                            updates.increment();
                         }
                     } catch (IOException | InterruptedException ex) {
                         throw new RuntimeException(ex);
                     }
                 } else {
                     System.out.println("    skip: '"+l+"'");
+                    skips.increment();
                 }
+                checks.increment();
             });
         }
         System.out.println();
@@ -119,8 +128,13 @@ private static String queryLatestVersion(SmoSearchBackend backend, String gid, S
     private static String queryLatestVersion(SmoSearchBackend backend, SearchRequest request) throws IOException, InterruptedException {
         requests.acquire();
         try {
-            List<Record> result = backend.search(request).getPage();
-            return !result.isEmpty() ? result.getFirst().getValue(VERSION) : null;
+            return backend.search(request).getPage().stream()
+                    .map(r -> r.getValue(VERSION))
+                    .filter(v -> !v.contains("alpha") && !v.contains("beta"))
+                    .filter(v -> !v.contains("M") && !v.contains("m") && !v.contains("B") && !v.contains("b") && !v.contains("ea"))
+                    .limit(5)
+                    .max((v1, v2) -> new ComparableVersion(v1).compareTo(new ComparableVersion(v2)))
+                    .orElse(null);
         } finally {
             requests.release();
         }
diff --git a/.github/workflows/dependency-checks.yml b/.github/workflows/dependency-checks.yml
index 9f0c4d1efffb..dcf5fdc41ac1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dependency-checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dependency-checks.yml
@@ -54,10 +54,10 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Check Dependencies
         run: |
-          mvn -q dependency:get  -Dartifact=org.apache.maven.indexer:search-backend-smo:7.1.1
           mvn -q dependency:copy -Dartifact=org.apache.maven.indexer:search-backend-smo:7.1.1 -DoutputDirectory=./lib
           mvn -q dependency:copy -Dartifact=org.apache.maven.indexer:search-api:7.1.1         -DoutputDirectory=./lib
           mvn -q dependency:copy -Dartifact=com.google.code.gson:gson:2.10.1                  -DoutputDirectory=./lib
+          mvn -q dependency:copy -Dartifact=org.apache.maven:maven-artifact:3.9.6             -DoutputDirectory=./lib
           echo "<pre>" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           java --enable-preview --source 22 -cp "lib/*" .github/scripts/BinariesListUpdates.java ./ | tee -a $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           echo "</pre>" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY