diff --git a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/pom.xml b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/pom.xml
index 8fc07074..95652047 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/pom.xml
+++ b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/pom.xml
@@ -27,4 +27,16 @@ under the License.
   <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <description>https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MPH-106</description>
 
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-help-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>@project.version@</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <artifact>org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-help-plugin:@project.version@</artifact>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
 </project>
diff --git a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/test.properties b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/test.properties
index 037f045e..ba5a1eec 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/test.properties
+++ b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-artifact/test.properties
@@ -16,4 +16,3 @@
 # under the License.
 
 output = result.txt
-artifact = org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-help-plugin
diff --git a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/pom.xml b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/pom.xml
index bf048a59..0daeb985 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/pom.xml
+++ b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/pom.xml
@@ -36,6 +36,14 @@ under the License.
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-help-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>@project.version@</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <artifact>org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-help-plugin:@project.version@</artifact>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
     </plugins>
   </build>
 </project>
diff --git a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/test.properties b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/test.properties
index 037f045e..ba5a1eec 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/test.properties
+++ b/src/it/projects/effective-pom-multimodule-artifact/test.properties
@@ -16,4 +16,3 @@
 # under the License.
 
 output = result.txt
-artifact = org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-help-plugin
diff --git a/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/pom.xml b/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/pom.xml
index 9ee377e0..5f0d37c2 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/pom.xml
+++ b/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/pom.xml
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ under the License.
               <goal>evaluate</goal>
             </goals>
             <phase>package</phase>
+            <configuration>
+              <artifact>org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-help-plugin:@project.version@</artifact>
+            </configuration>
           </execution>
         </executions>
       </plugin>
diff --git a/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/test.properties b/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/test.properties
index 632b331f..5f9820fd 100644
--- a/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/test.properties
+++ b/src/it/projects/evaluate-artifact-with-expression-with-output/test.properties
@@ -17,4 +17,3 @@
 
 expression = project.name
 output = result.txt
-artifact = org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-help-plugin
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojo.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojo.java
index 163a37f8..3b1c3dbd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojo.java
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ private XStream getXStream() {
                 /** {@inheritDoc} */
                 @Override
                 public boolean canConvert(Class type) {
-                    return Properties.class == type;
+                    return Properties.class.isAssignableFrom(type);
                 }
 
                 /** {@inheritDoc} */
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojoTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojoTest.java
index 5fe15de0..994ff260 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojoTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/plugins/help/EvaluateMojoTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.apache.maven.api.di.Provides;
 import org.apache.maven.api.plugin.testing.InjectMojo;
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@
 
 import static org.apache.maven.api.plugin.testing.MojoExtension.setVariableValueToObject;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.never;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
@@ -184,4 +186,45 @@ void testEvaluateQuiteModeWithOutputOnStdout(EvaluateMojo mojo) throws Exception
         assertEquals("org.apache.maven.its.help", stdResult);
         verify(log, never()).warn(anyString());
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Tests that a {@code Properties} subclass (like {@code SortedProperties}) is correctly serialized
+     * by XStream without falling through to {@code SerializableConverter} which would attempt
+     * reflective access to {@code java.util.Hashtable.table} (forbidden on Java 18+).
+     * @throws Exception in case of errors.
+     */
+    @Test
+    @ResourceLock(Resources.SYSTEM_OUT)
+    @InjectMojo(goal = "evaluate")
+    @MojoParameter(name = "forceStdout", value = "true")
+    @MojoParameter(name = "expression", value = "project.properties")
+    void testEvaluateWithPropertiesSubclass(EvaluateMojo mojo) throws Exception {
+        Properties sortedProperties = new AbstractEffectiveMojo.SortedProperties();
+        sortedProperties.setProperty("key1", "value1");
+        sortedProperties.setProperty("key2", "value2");
+
+        when(expressionEvaluator.evaluate(anyString())).thenReturn(sortedProperties);
+        when(log.isInfoEnabled()).thenReturn(false);
+
+        setVariableValueToObject(mojo, "evaluator", expressionEvaluator);
+
+        PrintStream saveOut = System.out;
+        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        System.setOut(new PrintStream(baos));
+
+        try {
+            mojo.execute();
+        } finally {
+            System.setOut(saveOut);
+            baos.close();
+        }
+
+        String stdResult = baos.toString();
+        // Verify serialization succeeded without falling through to SerializableConverter
+        assertTrue(stdResult.contains("key1"));
+        assertTrue(stdResult.contains("value1"));
+        assertTrue(stdResult.contains("key2"));
+        assertTrue(stdResult.contains("value2"));
+        verify(log, never()).warn(anyString());
+    }
 }