diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 1a12f497a..c9bc5ef5e 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -198,7 +198,8 @@ jobs:
             - run:
                 name: findDevelopSnapshot
                 command: |
-                  ./mvnw versions:update-properties -Dincludes=io.dockstore:* -DallowSnapshots
+                  # grab the latest snapshot version that doesn't seem to correspond to a feature branch or similar
+                  ./mvnw versions:update-properties -Dincludes="io.dockstore:*" -Dmaven.version.ignore=\.*-\.*-SNAPSHOT -DallowSnapshots
             - run:
                 name: force update to latest snapshot versions, # review this step to see what versions were used, also see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29020716/maven-what-does-u-update-snapshots-really-do
                 command: |
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 02423660f..32545e7fb 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@
                 <plugin>
                     <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                     <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                    <version>2.10.0</version>
+                    <version>2.18.0</version>
                 </plugin>
                 <plugin>
                     <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>