diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/JavaHelidonCommonCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/JavaHelidonCommonCodegen.java
index c0b5105a8d6..b2b3d1a6df1 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/JavaHelidonCommonCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/JavaHelidonCommonCodegen.java
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ public abstract class JavaHelidonCommonCodegen extends AbstractJavaCodegen
     }
 
     private void setHelidonVersion(String version) {
-        helidonVersion = VersionUtil.instance().chooseVersion(version);
+        helidonVersion = VersionUtil.instance().chooseVersionBestMatchOrSelf(version);
         setParentVersion(helidonVersion);
         helidonMajorVersion = VersionUtil.majorVersion(helidonVersion);
     }
@@ -769,6 +769,30 @@ public abstract class JavaHelidonCommonCodegen extends AbstractJavaCodegen
             return chooseVersion(requestedVersion, versions);
         }
 
+        /**
+         *  Returns either the best match version or, if there is none, the requested version itself to allow references to
+         * unpublished releases such as snapshots.
+         *
+         * @param requestedVersion version to search for
+         * @return either the best match or, if none, the requested version itself
+         */
+        String chooseVersionBestMatchOrSelf(String requestedVersion) {
+            return chooseVersionBestMatchOrSelf(requestedVersion, versions);
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Returns either the best match version or, if there is none, the requested version itself to allow references to
+         * unpublished releases such as snapshots.
+         *
+         * @param requestedVersion version to search for
+         * @param candidateVersions releases to consider
+         * @return either the best match or, if none, the requested version itself
+         */
+        String chooseVersionBestMatchOrSelf(String requestedVersion, List<String> candidateVersions) {
+            String bestMatch = chooseVersion(requestedVersion, candidateVersions);
+            return bestMatch != null ? bestMatch : requestedVersion;
+        }
+
         /**
          * Returns the version that is the "closest" match to the requested version expression from among the provided
          * releases, where the expression expression is one of the following:
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/HelidonCommonCodegenTest.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/HelidonCommonCodegenTest.java
index 32e487e8543..750e722f2fe 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/HelidonCommonCodegenTest.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/HelidonCommonCodegenTest.java
@@ -48,4 +48,10 @@ public class HelidonCommonCodegenTest {
     }
 
 
+
+    @Test void checkUseOfUnpublishedRelease() {
+        assertThat(test.chooseVersionBestMatchOrSelf("4.0.11-SNAPSHOT",
+                                                     List.of("4.0.10", "3.2.1", "3.2.0", "2.0.4", "1.2.3", "1.2.2", "1.1.0")))
+                .isEqualTo("4.0.11-SNAPSHOT");
+    }
 }