diff --git a/CHANGELOG.adoc b/CHANGELOG.adoc
index c95f065448954109c59fcc23d09a9fd72bd3a5c2..b3ff6cc95ef8409aaea94cf659d8c2ea96c87e64 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.adoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.adoc
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 This is a summary of all notable changes to Antora Collector, notably the @antora/collector-extension npm package, by release.
 For a detailed view of what's changed, refer to the {url-repo}/commits[commit history] of this project.
 
+== Unreleased
+
+=== Changed
+
+* when importing antora.yml, only remove the prerelease property on the bucket if the value of the prerelease key is null (#53)
+
 == 1.0.2 (2025-08-11)
 
 === Added
diff --git a/docs/collector-extension/modules/ROOT/pages/configure-scan.adoc b/docs/collector-extension/modules/ROOT/pages/configure-scan.adoc
index 377e802a7ebfaf13c9f28731b95b7b05213bd101..aa2100667b4f3dcd6f17cfa88006aaef01f803db 100644
--- a/docs/collector-extension/modules/ROOT/pages/configure-scan.adoc
+++ b/docs/collector-extension/modules/ROOT/pages/configure-scan.adoc
@@ -25,8 +25,9 @@ Then, the parsed data is overlaid onto the current component version bucket.
 No attempt is made to deep merge the data.
 This means the values of all top-level keys in the imported file replace any existing values.
 
-This feature allows you to update the name, version, and prerelease properties on the bucket, effectively altering its identity.
-Updating the version can only be done using a concrete version value.
+This feature allows you to update the name and version properties on the bucket, effectively altering its identity.
+You can also update or remove the prerelease property to change its identity is classified.
+*Updating the version can only be done using a concrete version value.*
 The value cannot be `true` or a refname projection as this value will not be processed.
 For example:
 
@@ -50,7 +51,8 @@ For example:
 title: New Title
 ----
 
-If the bucket has the `prerelease` property set, but the imported [.path]_antora.yml_ file is missing this key, the `prerelease` property is removed from the bucket.
+If the bucket has the `prerelease` property set, but the imported [.path]_antora.yml_ file specifies a version and is missing the `prerelease` key, the `prerelease` property is removed from the bucket.
+The `prerelease` key is also removed if the value in the imported file is null.
 
 CAUTION: Be particularly cautious when making a copy of antora.yml to apply your modifications.
 If it uses the refname alias `true` (e.g., `version: true`) or a refname projection, this value will be transferred directly to the bucket and result in the version being incorrect.
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js b/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js
index 1485bc04e5b41e28bdb8d59cfa7fb58edf0f1b19..79d69adb8a9b14c9ab53557ff95b5a169a666897 100644
--- a/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/lib/index.js
@@ -184,7 +184,13 @@ module.exports.register = function ({ config: { createWorktrees = 'auto', keepWo
             }
             if (componentVersionDesc) {
               Object.assign(targetBucket, componentVersionDesc)
-              if (replaceTargetBucket && !('prerelease' in componentVersionDesc)) delete targetBucket.prerelease
+              if (
+                replaceTargetBucket &&
+                'prerelease' in componentVersionDesc &&
+                componentVersionDesc.prerelease == null
+              ) {
+                delete targetBucket.prerelease
+              }
             }
             const targetFiles = targetBucket.files
             for (const file of scannedFiles) {
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/extension-test.js b/packages/collector-extension/test/extension-test.js
index 0ad97d5489aeeb6169a63abde7b2597c37a0e377..aba44bc834c01fcb2ded090141d39f478d75f04a 100644
--- a/packages/collector-extension/test/extension-test.js
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/extension-test.js
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ describe(localPackageName, () => {
       })
     })
 
-    it('should remove prerelease key if not specified in scanned antora.yml file', async () => {
+    it('should remove prerelease key if value in scanned antora.yml file is null', async () => {
       const collectorConfig = {
         run: { command: '$NODE .gen-component-desc.js' },
         scan: { dir: 'build' },
@@ -631,7 +631,32 @@ describe(localPackageName, () => {
           assert.equal(contentAggregate.length, 1)
           const bucket = contentAggregate[0]
           assert.equal(bucket.version, '1.0.0')
-          assert.equal(bucket.prerelease, undefined)
+          assertx.doesNotHaveProperty(bucket, 'prerelease')
+          assertx.empty(bucket.files)
+        },
+      })
+    })
+
+    it('should not remove prerelease key if not specified in scanned antora.yml file', async () => {
+      const collectorConfig = {
+        run: { command: '$NODE .gen-component-desc.js name-only' },
+        scan: { dir: 'build' },
+      }
+      await runScenario({
+        repoName: 'at-root-prerelease',
+        collectorConfig,
+        pre: (contentAggregate) => {
+          assert.equal(contentAggregate.length, 1)
+          const bucket = contentAggregate[0]
+          assert.equal(bucket.version, '')
+          assert.equal(bucket.prerelease, true)
+          assertx.empty(bucket.files)
+        },
+        post: (contentAggregate) => {
+          assert.equal(contentAggregate.length, 1)
+          const bucket = contentAggregate[0]
+          assert.equal(bucket.version, '')
+          assert.equal(bucket.prerelease, true)
           assertx.empty(bucket.files)
         },
       })
diff --git a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/extension-test/at-root-prerelease/.gen-component-desc.js b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/extension-test/at-root-prerelease/.gen-component-desc.js
index 72b439aa2b46535f42e762800cd71f86da5b1deb..abc3af0f9f5221a6196afa726890e7c8f4f66e90 100644
--- a/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/extension-test/at-root-prerelease/.gen-component-desc.js
+++ b/packages/collector-extension/test/fixtures/extension-test/at-root-prerelease/.gen-component-desc.js
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ const fsp = require('node:fs/promises')
 
 ;(async () => {
   await fsp.mkdir('build', { recursive: true })
-  const antoraYml = 'name: test\nversion: 1.0.0\n'
+  const antoraYml = process.argv[2] === 'name-only' ? 'name: test\n' : 'name: test\nversion: 1.0.0\nprerelease: ~'
   await fsp.writeFile('build/antora.yml', antoraYml, 'utf8')
 })()
diff --git a/packages/test-harness/lib/index.js b/packages/test-harness/lib/index.js
index 050de3ef894975a6c4a9942433b1730c42d29e49..80c858af388a7fb5163e2034e00c3d9acd671abb 100644
--- a/packages/test-harness/lib/index.js
+++ b/packages/test-harness/lib/index.js
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ const assertx = {
     assertx.file(actual)
     assert.equal(fs.readFileSync(actual, 'utf8'), expected, msg)
   },
+  doesNotHaveProperty: (actual, expected) =>
+    assert(!(expected in actual), `Expected ${actual} to not have property '${expected}'`),
   partialDeepEqual: (actual, expected, msg) =>
     assert.deepEqual(sliceObject(actual, ...Object.keys(expected)), expected, msg),
   directory: (actual) => {