diff --git a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser.spec.ts b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser.spec.ts
index cb39d618c21c3a2a2a29e43fa80bc6ec0492e8a5..a0fab69af0b0643432a8dfa53b662e73a61bd134 100644
--- a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser.spec.ts
@@ -737,21 +737,12 @@ describe('modules/manager/gradle/parser', () => {
 
   describe('heuristic dependency matching', () => {
     test.each`
-      input                                                        | output
-      ${'("foo", "bar", "1.2.3")'}                                 | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: '1.2.3' }}
-      ${'("foo", "bar", "1.2.3", "4.5.6")'}                        | ${null}
-      ${'(["foo", "bar", "1.2.3"])'}                               | ${null}
-      ${'someMethod("foo", "bar", "1.2.3")'}                       | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: '1.2.3' }}
-      ${'createXmlValueRemover("defaults", "integer", "integer")'} | ${{ depName: 'defaults:integer', currentValue: 'integer', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'events("passed", "skipped", "failed")'}                   | ${{ depName: 'passed:skipped', currentValue: 'failed', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'args("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                               | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'arrayOf("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                            | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'listOf("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                             | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'mutableListOf("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                      | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'setOf("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                              | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'mutableSetOf("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                       | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'stages("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                             | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
-      ${'mapScalar("foo", "bar", "baz")'}                          | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: 'baz', skipReason: 'ignored' }}
+      input                                  | output
+      ${'("foo", "bar", "1.2.3")'}           | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: '1.2.3' }}
+      ${'("foo", "bar", "1.2.3", "4.5.6")'}  | ${null}
+      ${'(["foo", "bar", "1.2.3"])'}         | ${null}
+      ${'someMethod("foo", "bar", "1.2.3")'} | ${{ depName: 'foo:bar', currentValue: '1.2.3' }}
+      ${'listOf("foo", "bar", "baz")'}       | ${null}
     `('$input', ({ input, output }) => {
       const { deps } = parseGradle(input);
       expect(deps).toMatchObject([output].filter(is.truthy));
diff --git a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/common.ts b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/common.ts
index 43a1032311811d49a1a93cb131487b70ceda27a8..6f5c17790d20c09260054dfdfbecd5ae93ac9066 100644
--- a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/common.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/common.ts
@@ -35,19 +35,6 @@ export const GRADLE_PLUGINS = {
   spotbugs: ['toolVersion', 'com.github.spotbugs:spotbugs'],
 };
 
-export const ANNOYING_METHODS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
-  'createXmlValueRemover',
-  'events',
-  'args',
-  'arrayOf',
-  'listOf',
-  'mutableListOf',
-  'setOf',
-  'mutableSetOf',
-  'stages', // https://github.com/ajoberstar/reckon,
-  'mapScalar', // https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-kotlin
-]);
-
 export function storeVarToken(ctx: Ctx, node: lexer.Token): Ctx {
   ctx.varTokens.push(node);
   return ctx;
diff --git a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/handlers.ts b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/handlers.ts
index 4ffbb70a0e319ed01fd273926f0092e693257313..273ffeabbe09bc080e781a4866eca1713b8d33af 100644
--- a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/handlers.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/parser/handlers.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import type { parseGradle as parseGradleCallback } from '../parser';
 import type { Ctx, GradleManagerData } from '../types';
 import { parseDependencyString } from '../utils';
 import {
-  ANNOYING_METHODS,
   GRADLE_PLUGINS,
   REGISTRY_URLS,
   findVariable,
@@ -199,10 +198,6 @@ export function handleLongFormDep(ctx: Ctx): Ctx {
     };
   }
 
-  if (methodName?.[0] && ANNOYING_METHODS.has(methodName[0].value)) {
-    dep.skipReason = 'ignored';
-  }
-
   ctx.deps.push(dep);
 
   return ctx;
diff --git a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.spec.ts b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.spec.ts
index 0a3ee6c05ef0d3c5976ffb8d9ae8b14e385de964..ac8bfb824d15f8ca3e37f9773b7ae44c4a402ae1 100644
--- a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.spec.ts
@@ -13,13 +13,11 @@ describe('modules/manager/gradle/utils', () => {
   it('versionLikeSubstring', () => {
     [
       '1.2.3',
-      'foobar',
       '[1.0,2.0]',
       '(,2.0[',
       '2.1.1.RELEASE',
       '1.0.+',
       '2022-05-10_55',
-      'latest',
     ].forEach((input) => {
       expect(versionLikeSubstring(input)).toEqual(input);
       expect(versionLikeSubstring(`${input}'`)).toEqual(input);
@@ -31,12 +29,14 @@ describe('modules/manager/gradle/utils', () => {
     expect(versionLikeSubstring('')).toBeNull();
     expect(versionLikeSubstring(undefined)).toBeNull();
     expect(versionLikeSubstring(null)).toBeNull();
+    expect(versionLikeSubstring('foobar')).toBeNull();
+    expect(versionLikeSubstring('latest')).toBeNull();
   });
 
   it('isDependencyString', () => {
     expect(isDependencyString('foo:bar:1.2.3')).toBeTrue();
     expect(isDependencyString('foo.foo:bar.bar:1.2.3')).toBeTrue();
-    expect(isDependencyString('foo:bar:baz:qux')).toBeTrue();
+    expect(isDependencyString('foo:bar:baz:qux')).toBeFalse();
     expect(isDependencyString('foo.bar:baz:1.2.3')).toBeTrue();
     expect(isDependencyString('foo.bar:baz:1.2.3:linux-cpu-x86_64')).toBeTrue();
     expect(isDependencyString('foo.bar:baz:1.2.+')).toBeTrue();
@@ -57,10 +57,6 @@ describe('modules/manager/gradle/utils', () => {
       depName: 'foo.foo:bar.bar',
       currentValue: '1.2.3',
     });
-    expect(parseDependencyString('foo:bar:baz:qux')).toMatchObject({
-      depName: 'foo:bar',
-      currentValue: 'baz',
-    });
     expect(parseDependencyString('foo.bar:baz:1.2.3')).toMatchObject({
       depName: 'foo.bar:baz',
       currentValue: '1.2.3',
@@ -69,6 +65,7 @@ describe('modules/manager/gradle/utils', () => {
       depName: 'foo:bar',
       currentValue: '1.2.+',
     });
+    expect(parseDependencyString('foo:bar:baz:qux')).toBeNull();
     expect(parseDependencyString('foo:bar:baz:qux:quux')).toBeNull();
     expect(parseDependencyString("foo:bar:1.2.3'")).toBeNull();
     expect(parseDependencyString('foo:bar:1.2.3"')).toBeNull();
diff --git a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.ts b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.ts
index c2c898b3806455524592db6c91762900dfdf1c61..bed8720663dc5f34e7d5d8a7c475e0714be2fba1 100644
--- a/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.ts
+++ b/lib/modules/manager/gradle/utils.ts
@@ -18,8 +18,17 @@ const versionLikeRegex = regEx('^(?<version>[-_.\\[\\](),a-zA-Z0-9+]+)');
 export function versionLikeSubstring(
   input: string | null | undefined
 ): string | null {
-  const match = input ? versionLikeRegex.exec(input) : null;
-  return match?.groups?.version ?? null;
+  if (!input) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const match = versionLikeRegex.exec(input);
+  const version = match?.groups?.version;
+  if (!version || !regEx(/\d/).test(version)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  return version;
 }
 
 export function isDependencyString(input: string): boolean {