diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/invoker.properties b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/invoker.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b992cb3c77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/invoker.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+invoker.goals = ${project.groupId}:${project.artifactId}:${project.version}:update-properties
+invoker.mavenOpts = -DincludeParent=false
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/parent-pom.xml b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/parent-pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d01abb3eec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/parent-pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+    <groupId>default-group</groupId>
+    <artifactId>parent-artifact</artifactId>
+    <version>1.0.0</version>
+    <packaging>pom</packaging>
+
+    <properties>
+        <artifact-version>1.0</artifact-version>
+    </properties>
+
+</project>
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/pom.xml b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e80ba17a43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+    <parent>
+        <groupId>default-group</groupId>
+        <artifactId>parent-artifact</artifactId>
+        <version>1.0.0</version>
+        <relativePath>parent-pom.xml</relativePath>
+    </parent>
+
+    <artifactId>child-artifact</artifactId>
+    <version>1.0.0</version>
+
+    <dependencies>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>localhost</groupId>
+            <artifactId>dummy-api</artifactId>
+            <version>${artifact-version}</version>
+        </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+
+</project>
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/verify.groovy b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/verify.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b4f858adb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/it/it-update-properties-issue-837/verify.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+assert ! ( new File( basedir, "build.log" ).text.contains( 'Property ${artifact-version}' ) )
diff --git a/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UpdatePropertiesMojo.java b/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UpdatePropertiesMojo.java
index 8292a6926d..a0394a08c7 100644
--- a/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UpdatePropertiesMojo.java
+++ b/versions-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/codehaus/mojo/versions/UpdatePropertiesMojo.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 import org.codehaus.mojo.versions.recording.DefaultChangeRecord;
 import org.codehaus.mojo.versions.rewriting.ModifiedPomXMLEventReader;
 
+import static java.util.Optional.ofNullable;
 import static org.codehaus.mojo.versions.utils.SegmentUtils.determineUnchangedSegment;
 
 /**
@@ -133,6 +134,16 @@ public class UpdatePropertiesMojo extends AbstractVersionsDependencyUpdaterMojo
                 defaultValue = "true" )
     protected boolean allowIncrementalUpdates = true;
 
+    /**
+     * <p>Whether to include parent POMs in the search. Default: {@code true}</p>
+     * <p>Setting this to {@code false} can speed up execution, but will not resolve
+     * property-bound dependencies, defined in parent POMs.
+     *
+     * @since 2.14.0
+     */
+    @Parameter( property = "includeParent", defaultValue = "true" )
+    protected boolean includeParent = true;
+
     // -------------------------- STATIC METHODS --------------------------
 
     // -------------------------- OTHER METHODS --------------------------
@@ -164,6 +175,7 @@ protected void update( ModifiedPomXMLEventReader pom )
                         .withIncludeProperties( includeProperties )
                         .withExcludeProperties( excludeProperties )
                         .withAutoLinkItems( autoLinkItems )
+                        .withIncludeParent( includeParent )
                         .build() );
         for ( Map.Entry<Property, PropertyVersions> entry : propertyVersions.entrySet() )
         {
@@ -200,7 +212,7 @@ protected void update( ModifiedPomXMLEventReader pom )
                             updatePropertyToNewestVersion( pom, property, version, currentVersion,
                                     allowDowngrade, unchangedSegment );
 
-                    if ( targetVersion != null )
+                    if ( pom.isModified() )
                     {
                         for ( final ArtifactAssociation association : version.getAssociations() )
                         {
@@ -211,7 +223,9 @@ protected void update( ModifiedPomXMLEventReader pom )
                                                                           ChangeRecord.ChangeKind.PROPERTY )
                                                                       .withArtifact( association.getArtifact() )
                                                                       .withOldVersion( currentVersion )
-                                                                      .withNewVersion( targetVersion.toString() )
+                                                                      .withNewVersion( ofNullable( targetVersion )
+                                                                              .map( ArtifactVersion::toString )
+                                                                              .orElse( "(empty)" ) )
                                                                       .build() );
                             }
                         }