diff --git a/CONTRIBUTE.md b/CONTRIBUTE.md
index 0a3a8f385..b913d2582 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTE.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTE.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 Contributing works pretty easy. You can do a pull request or you can commit if you are part of a Weaviate team.
 
 ### Code of Conduct
-Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms. 
+Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.
 [![Contributor Covenant](https://img.shields.io/badge/Contributor%20Covenant-v2.0%20adopted-ff69b4.svg)](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md)
 
 
@@ -27,6 +27,22 @@ AKA: smart commits
 
 If you create a pull request without smart commits, the pull request will be [squashed into](https://blog.github.com/2016-04-01-squash-your-commits/) one git commit.
 
+### Updating dependencies
+
+It's a good practice to periodically check for possible dependency upgrades. Ideally, we should do it before every release.
+
+```sh
+mvn versions:display-property-updates
+```
+
+If appropriate, update dependency version with this command:
+
+```sh
+mvn versions:update-properties
+```
+
+Commit all version upgrades in a single commit, unless there's a good reason not to.
+
 ### Contributor License Agreement
 
 Contributions to Weaviate Java client must be accompanied by a Contributor License Agreement. You (or your employer) retain the copyright to your contribution; this simply gives us permission to use and redistribute your contributions as part of Weaviate Java client. Go to [this page](https://weaviate.io/service/contributor-license-agreement) to read the current agreement.
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8576d7044..76e9c63b6 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -52,26 +52,26 @@
     <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
     <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
     <maven.compiler.release>17</maven.compiler.release>
-    <lombok.version>1.18.36</lombok.version>
-    <gson.version>2.12.1</gson.version>
-    <httpclient.version>5.4.3</httpclient.version>
-    <lang3.version>3.17.0</lang3.version>
-    <junit.version>5.12.0</junit.version>
-    <testcontainers.version>1.20.5</testcontainers.version>
+    <lombok.version>1.18.38</lombok.version>
+    <gson.version>2.13.1</gson.version>
+    <httpclient.version>5.5</httpclient.version>
+    <lang3.version>3.18.0</lang3.version>
+    <junit.version>5.13.4</junit.version>
+    <testcontainers.version>1.21.3</testcontainers.version>
     <assertj-core.version>3.27.3</assertj-core.version>
     <jparams.version>1.0.4</jparams.version>
-    <mockito.version>5.15.2</mockito.version>
+    <mockito.version>5.18.0</mockito.version>
     <slf4j.version>2.0.17</slf4j.version>
-    <logback.version>1.5.17</logback.version>
+    <logback.version>1.5.18</logback.version>
     <mock-server.version>5.14.0</mock-server.version>
-    <jackson.version>2.18.3</jackson.version>
-    <oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>11.23.1</oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>
+    <jackson.version>2.19.2</jackson.version>
+    <oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>11.26.1</oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>
     <mock-server.version>5.15.0</mock-server.version>
-    <protobuf.java.version>4.29.3</protobuf.java.version>
-    <protobuf.java-util.version>4.29.3</protobuf.java-util.version>
-    <grpc-netty-shaded.version>1.68.2</grpc-netty-shaded.version>
-    <grpc-protobuf.version>1.70.0</grpc-protobuf.version>
-    <grpc-stub.version>1.68.2</grpc-stub.version>
+    <protobuf.java.version>4.31.1</protobuf.java.version>
+    <protobuf.java-util.version>4.31.1</protobuf.java-util.version>
+    <grpc-netty-shaded.version>1.73.0</grpc-netty-shaded.version>
+    <grpc-protobuf.version>1.73.0</grpc-protobuf.version>
+    <grpc-stub.version>1.73.0</grpc-stub.version>
     <annotations-api.version>6.0.53</annotations-api.version>
   </properties>
 
@@ -309,6 +309,23 @@
             </execution>
           </executions>
         </plugin>
+        <plugin>
+          <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
+          <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+          <version>2.18.0</version>
+          <configuration>
+            <allowSnapshots>false</allowSnapshots>
+            <generateBackupPoms>false</generateBackupPoms>
+            <ruleSet>
+              <ignoreVersions>
+                <ignoreVersion>
+                  <type>regex</type>
+                  <version>(.+-SNAPSHOT|.+-(M|RC|rc)\d|.+-(alpha|beta)\d?)</version>
+                </ignoreVersion>
+              </ignoreVersions>
+            </ruleSet>
+          </configuration>
+        </plugin>
         <plugin>
           <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
           <artifactId>build-helper-maven-plugin</artifactId>