diff --git a/maven-api-impl/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/model/DefaultModelBuilder.java b/maven-api-impl/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/model/DefaultModelBuilder.java
index 4489a885d66..5b818c38d2d 100644
--- a/maven-api-impl/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/model/DefaultModelBuilder.java
+++ b/maven-api-impl/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/model/DefaultModelBuilder.java
@@ -564,42 +564,49 @@ public void mergeRepositories(List<Repository> toAdd, boolean replace) {
         // Infer inner reactor dependencies version
         //
         Model transformFileToRaw(Model model) {
-            List<Dependency> newDeps = new ArrayList<>(model.getDependencies().size());
-            boolean modified = false;
-            for (Dependency dep : model.getDependencies()) {
-                if (dep.getVersion() == null) {
-                    Dependency.Builder depBuilder = null;
-                    Model depModel = getRawModel(model.getPomFile(), dep.getGroupId(), dep.getArtifactId());
-                    if (depModel != null) {
-                        String version = depModel.getVersion();
-                        InputLocation versionLocation = depModel.getLocation("version");
-                        if (version == null && depModel.getParent() != null) {
-                            version = depModel.getParent().getVersion();
-                            versionLocation = depModel.getParent().getLocation("version");
-                        }
-                        depBuilder = Dependency.newBuilder(dep);
-                        depBuilder.version(version).location("version", versionLocation);
-                        if (dep.getGroupId() == null) {
-                            String depGroupId = depModel.getGroupId();
-                            InputLocation groupIdLocation = depModel.getLocation("groupId");
-                            if (depGroupId == null && depModel.getParent() != null) {
-                                depGroupId = depModel.getParent().getGroupId();
-                                groupIdLocation = depModel.getParent().getLocation("groupId");
-                            }
-                            depBuilder.groupId(depGroupId).location("groupId", groupIdLocation);
-                        }
+            List<Dependency> deps = model.getDependencies();
+            List<Dependency> newDeps = null;
+            for (int i = 0; i < deps.size(); i++) {
+                Dependency dep = deps.get(i);
+                Dependency newDep = inferDependencyVersion(model, dep);
+                if (newDep != null) {
+                    if (newDeps == null) {
+                        newDeps = new ArrayList<>(deps);
                     }
-                    if (depBuilder != null) {
-                        newDeps.add(depBuilder.build());
-                        modified = true;
-                    } else {
-                        newDeps.add(dep);
+                    newDeps.set(i, newDep);
+                }
+            }
+            if (newDeps != null) {
+                return model.withDependencies(newDeps);
+            } else {
+                return model;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private Dependency inferDependencyVersion(Model model, Dependency dep) {
+            Dependency.Builder depBuilder = null;
+            Model depModel = getRawModel(model.getPomFile(), dep.getGroupId(), dep.getArtifactId());
+            if (depModel != null) {
+                String version = depModel.getVersion();
+                InputLocation versionLocation = depModel.getLocation("version");
+                if (version == null && depModel.getParent() != null) {
+                    version = depModel.getParent().getVersion();
+                    versionLocation = depModel.getParent().getLocation("version");
+                }
+                depBuilder = Dependency.newBuilder(dep);
+                depBuilder.version(version).location("version", versionLocation);
+                if (dep.getGroupId() == null) {
+                    String depGroupId = depModel.getGroupId();
+                    InputLocation groupIdLocation = depModel.getLocation("groupId");
+                    if (depGroupId == null && depModel.getParent() != null) {
+                        depGroupId = depModel.getParent().getGroupId();
+                        groupIdLocation = depModel.getParent().getLocation("groupId");
                     }
-                } else {
-                    newDeps.add(dep);
+                    depBuilder.groupId(depGroupId).location("groupId", groupIdLocation);
                 }
+                return depBuilder.build();
             }
-            return modified ? model.withDependencies(newDeps) : model;
+            return null;
         }
 
         String replaceCiFriendlyVersion(Map<String, String> properties, String version) {