diff --git a/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdate.java b/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdate.java
index e74f36c1f0186..9ab914b41be3d 100644
--- a/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdate.java
+++ b/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdate.java
@@ -93,6 +93,10 @@ public Integer doCall() throws Exception {
             String ext = FileUtil.onlyExt(name, true);
             if ("pom.xml".equals(name) || "java".equals(ext)) {
                 updateTargets.add(file);
+            } else {
+                // route definition files (YAML, XML) are used as source files
+                // for the export pipeline dependency resolution
+                this.files.add(file.toString());
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdateTest.java b/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdateTest.java
index bcf23f29c42a0..ea193d21789cb 100644
--- a/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdateTest.java
+++ b/dsl/camel-jbang/camel-jbang-core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/dsl/jbang/core/commands/DependencyUpdateTest.java
@@ -132,6 +132,43 @@ private void prepareMavenProject(RuntimeType rt) throws Exception {
         Assertions.assertEquals(0, exportCommand.doCall(), exportCommandPrinter.getLines().toString());
     }
 
+    // ==================== explicit route file as positional argument ====================
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @MethodSource("runtimeProvider")
+    void shouldDependencyUpdateWithExplicitRouteFile(RuntimeType rt) throws Exception {
+        prepareFixtureProject(rt);
+
+        // add arangodb to the route
+        addArangodbToCamelFile();
+
+        // pass BOTH pom.xml AND route file as positional arguments
+        // (this is the calling convention used by IDE tooling)
+        StringPrinter updatePrinter = new StringPrinter();
+        DependencyUpdate command = new DependencyUpdate(new CamelJBangMain().withPrinter(updatePrinter));
+        CommandLine.populateCommand(command,
+                "--camel-version=4.13.0",
+                "--dir=" + workingDir,
+                CamelCommandBaseTestSupport.quarkusExtRegistry(),
+                new File(workingDir, "pom.xml").getAbsolutePath(),
+                new File(workingDir, "src/main/resources/camel/my.camel.yaml").getAbsolutePath());
+        int exit = command.doCall();
+        Assertions.assertEquals(0, exit, updatePrinter.getLines().toString());
+
+        String pomContent = Files.readString(new File(workingDir, "pom.xml").toPath());
+        switch (rt) {
+            case quarkus:
+                assertThat(pomContent).contains("camel-quarkus-arangodb");
+                break;
+            case springBoot:
+                assertThat(pomContent).contains("camel-arangodb-starter");
+                break;
+            case main:
+                assertThat(pomContent).contains("camel-arangodb<");
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+
     // ==================== scan-routes with Maven (fixture-based tests) ====================
 
     @ParameterizedTest