diff --git a/extensions/picocli/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/picocli/deployment/PicocliProcessor.java b/extensions/picocli/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/picocli/deployment/PicocliProcessor.java
index b2ed32c390f8b6..06562e639d7ac3 100644
--- a/extensions/picocli/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/picocli/deployment/PicocliProcessor.java
+++ b/extensions/picocli/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/picocli/deployment/PicocliProcessor.java
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
+import org.jboss.jandex.AnnotationInstance;
 import org.jboss.jandex.AnnotationTarget;
+import org.jboss.jandex.AnnotationValue;
+import org.jboss.jandex.ClassInfo;
 import org.jboss.jandex.DotName;
 import org.jboss.jandex.IndexView;
 import org.jboss.jandex.MethodInfo;
@@ -12,6 +15,7 @@
 import io.quarkus.arc.deployment.AdditionalBeanBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.arc.deployment.AnnotationsTransformerBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.arc.deployment.AutoAddScopeBuildItem;
+import io.quarkus.arc.deployment.UnremovableBeanBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.arc.processor.AnnotationsTransformer;
 import io.quarkus.arc.processor.BuiltinScope;
 import io.quarkus.deployment.Feature;
@@ -76,6 +80,7 @@ IndexDependencyBuildItem picocliIndexDependency() {
     void picocliRunner(ApplicationIndexBuildItem applicationIndex,
             CombinedIndexBuildItem combinedIndex,
             BuildProducer<AdditionalBeanBuildItem> additionalBean,
+            BuildProducer<UnremovableBeanBuildItem> unremovableBean,
             BuildProducer<QuarkusApplicationClassBuildItem> quarkusApplicationClass,
             BuildProducer<AnnotationsTransformerBuildItem> annotationsTransformer) {
         IndexView index = combinedIndex.getIndex();
@@ -99,6 +104,20 @@ void picocliRunner(ApplicationIndexBuildItem applicationIndex,
             additionalBean.produce(AdditionalBeanBuildItem.unremovableOf(DefaultPicocliCommandLineFactory.class));
             quarkusApplicationClass.produce(new QuarkusApplicationClassBuildItem(PicocliRunner.class));
         }
+
+        // make the arguments of @Command unremovable beans if necessary
+        Collection<AnnotationInstance> commandInstances = index.getAnnotations(CommandLine.Command.class);
+        for (AnnotationInstance commandInstance : commandInstances) {
+            AnnotationValue versionProvider = commandInstance.value("versionProvider");
+            if (versionProvider != null) {
+                ClassInfo versionProviderInfo = index.getClassByName(versionProvider.asClass().name());
+                if (versionProviderInfo != null) {
+                    if (BuiltinScope.isDeclaredOn(versionProviderInfo)) { // TODO: should we make these beans even when they are not annotated as such?
+                        unremovableBean.produce(UnremovableBeanBuildItem.beanTypes(versionProviderInfo.name()));
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     private List<DotName> classesAnnotatedWith(IndexView indexView, String annotationClassName) {
diff --git a/integration-tests/picocli/src/main/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/EntryWithVersionCommand.java b/integration-tests/picocli/src/main/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/EntryWithVersionCommand.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..c2121fe991b46a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/picocli/src/main/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/EntryWithVersionCommand.java
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package io.quarkus.it.picocli;
+
+import io.quarkus.picocli.runtime.annotations.TopCommand;
+import picocli.CommandLine;
+
+@TopCommand
+@CommandLine.Command(mixinStandardHelpOptions = true, versionProvider = VersionProvider.class)
+public class EntryWithVersionCommand {
+}
diff --git a/integration-tests/picocli/src/main/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/VersionProvider.java b/integration-tests/picocli/src/main/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/VersionProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e06d7c92156f7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/picocli/src/main/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/VersionProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package io.quarkus.it.picocli;
+
+import jakarta.inject.Singleton;
+
+import org.eclipse.microprofile.config.inject.ConfigProperty;
+
+import picocli.CommandLine;
+
+@Singleton
+public class VersionProvider implements CommandLine.IVersionProvider {
+
+    private final String version;
+
+    public VersionProvider(@ConfigProperty(name = "some.version", defaultValue = "0.0.1") String version) {
+        this.version = version;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String[] getVersion() throws Exception {
+        return new String[] { version };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/integration-tests/picocli/src/test/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/TestVersion.java b/integration-tests/picocli/src/test/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/TestVersion.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..1218095d3de492
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/picocli/src/test/java/io/quarkus/it/picocli/TestVersion.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package io.quarkus.it.picocli;
+
+import static io.quarkus.it.picocli.TestUtils.createConfig;
+
+import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
+
+import io.quarkus.test.QuarkusProdModeTest;
+
+public class TestVersion {
+
+    @RegisterExtension
+    static final QuarkusProdModeTest config = createConfig("version-app", EntryWithVersionCommand.class,
+            VersionProvider.class)
+            .overrideConfigKey("some.version", "1.1")
+            .setCommandLineParameters("--version");
+
+    @Test
+    public void simpleTest() {
+        Assertions.assertThat(config.getStartupConsoleOutput()).containsOnlyOnce("1.1");
+        Assertions.assertThat(config.getExitCode()).isZero();
+    }
+
+}