diff --git a/tycho-core/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/InstallableUnitResolver.java b/tycho-core/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/InstallableUnitResolver.java
index 6edba2fa89..68e424901c 100644
--- a/tycho-core/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/InstallableUnitResolver.java
+++ b/tycho-core/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/InstallableUnitResolver.java
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ private static IInstallableUnit findUnits(Unit unitReference, IQueryable<IInstal
 
     private static IQueryResult<IInstallableUnit> findUnit(Unit unitReference, IQueryable<IInstallableUnit> units)
             throws TargetDefinitionSyntaxException {
-        Version version = parseVersion(unitReference);
+        VersionRange version = parseVersion(unitReference);
 
         // the createIUQuery treats 0.0.0 version as "any version", and all other versions as exact versions
         IQuery<IInstallableUnit> matchingIUQuery = QueryUtil.createIUQuery(unitReference.getId(), version);
@@ -285,12 +285,20 @@ private static IQueryResult<IInstallableUnit> findUnit(Unit unitReference, IQuer
         return queryResult;
     }
 
-    private static Version parseVersion(Unit unitReference) throws TargetDefinitionSyntaxException {
+    private static VersionRange parseVersion(Unit unitReference) throws TargetDefinitionSyntaxException {
+        String version = unitReference.getVersion();
         try {
-            return Version.parseVersion(unitReference.getVersion());
+            if ("0.0.0".equals(version)) {
+                return VersionRange.emptyRange;
+            } else if (version.contains(",")) { // a real version range
+                return VersionRange.create(version);
+            } else { // an explicit/exact version -> create strict version range
+                Version v = Version.parseVersion(version);
+                return new VersionRange(v, true, v, true);
+            }
         } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-            throw new TargetDefinitionSyntaxException(NLS.bind("Cannot parse version \"{0}\" of unit \"{1}\"",
-                    unitReference.getVersion(), unitReference.getId()), e);
+            throw new TargetDefinitionSyntaxException(
+                    NLS.bind("Cannot parse version \"{0}\" of unit \"{1}\"", version, unitReference.getId()), e);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tycho-core/src/test/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/TargetPlatformFactoryTest.java b/tycho-core/src/test/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/TargetPlatformFactoryTest.java
index 1fa142563c..9228f24ba1 100644
--- a/tycho-core/src/test/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/TargetPlatformFactoryTest.java
+++ b/tycho-core/src/test/java/org/eclipse/tycho/p2resolver/TargetPlatformFactoryTest.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.equinox.p2.core.IProvisioningAgent;
 import org.eclipse.equinox.p2.metadata.IInstallableUnit;
 import org.eclipse.equinox.p2.metadata.IVersionedId;
+import org.eclipse.equinox.p2.metadata.VersionedId;
 import org.eclipse.tycho.ArtifactType;
 import org.eclipse.tycho.DefaultArtifactKey;
 import org.eclipse.tycho.IDependencyMetadata.DependencyMetadataType;
@@ -298,7 +299,7 @@ public void testDuplicateReactorUnits() throws Exception {
     @Ignore("This test don't work because maven provides a 'not real' local repo to the test")
     public void testMavenArtifactsInTargetDefinitionResolveToMavenPath() throws Exception {
         File targetDefinition = resourceFile("targetresolver/mavenDep.target");
-        tpConfig.getTargetDefinitions().add(TargetDefinitionFile.read(targetDefinition));
+        tpConfig.addTargetDefinition(TargetDefinitionFile.read(targetDefinition));
         P2TargetPlatform targetPlatform = subject.createTargetPlatform(tpConfig, NOOP_EE_RESOLUTION_HANDLER, List.of());
         File artifactLocation = targetPlatform.getArtifactLocation(
                 new DefaultArtifactKey(ArtifactType.TYPE_ECLIPSE_PLUGIN, "org.apache.commons.logging", "1.2.0"));
@@ -307,6 +308,17 @@ public void testMavenArtifactsInTargetDefinitionResolveToMavenPath() throws Exce
         assertTrue(p2ArtifactPath.startsWith(localM2Repo));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testUnitsWithVersionRangeAndNoVersionInTargetDefinition() throws Exception {
+        File targetDefinition = resourceFile("targetresolver/versionRanges.target");
+        tpConfig.addTargetDefinition(TargetDefinitionFile.read(targetDefinition));
+        P2TargetPlatform tp = subject.createTargetPlatform(tpConfig, NOOP_EE_RESOLUTION_HANDLER, List.of());
+        Set<IInstallableUnit> ius = tp.getInstallableUnits();
+        assertThat(ius, hasItem(unitWithIdAndVersion(new VersionedId("jakarta.activation-api", "2.1.3"))));
+        assertThat(tp.getInstallableUnits(),
+                hasItem(unitWithIdAndVersion(new VersionedId("jakarta.inject.jakarta.inject-api", "1.0.5"))));
+    }
+
     private static TargetDefinition plannerTargetDefinition(TestRepositories repository, IVersionedId unit) {
         TargetDefinition.Location location = new TargetDefinitionResolverIncludeModeTest.PlannerLocationStub(repository,
                 unit);
diff --git a/tycho-core/src/test/resources/targetresolver/versionRanges.target b/tycho-core/src/test/resources/targetresolver/versionRanges.target
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e50d0f9a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tycho-core/src/test/resources/targetresolver/versionRanges.target
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
+<?pde version="3.8"?>
+<target name="version-ranges">
+	<locations>
+		<location includeAllPlatforms="false" includeConfigurePhase="true" includeMode="planner" includeSource="true" type="InstallableUnit">
+			<repository location="https://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/updates/4.33/R-4.33-202409030240/"/>
+			<unit id="jakarta.activation-api" />
+			<unit id="jakarta.inject.jakarta.inject-api" version="[1.0,2)"/>
+		</location>
+	</locations>
+</target>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tycho-targetplatform/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/targetplatform/TargetDefinitionFile.java b/tycho-targetplatform/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/targetplatform/TargetDefinitionFile.java
index e4bd84a9db..42fa355732 100644
--- a/tycho-targetplatform/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/targetplatform/TargetDefinitionFile.java
+++ b/tycho-targetplatform/src/main/java/org/eclipse/tycho/targetplatform/TargetDefinitionFile.java
@@ -755,6 +755,9 @@ private static IULocation parseIULocation(Element dom) {
         for (Element unitDom : getChildren(dom, "unit")) {
             String id = unitDom.getAttribute("id");
             String version = unitDom.getAttribute("version");
+			if (version == null || version.isBlank()) {
+				version = "0.0.0";
+			}
             units.add(new Unit(id, version));
         }
         final List<Repository> repositories = new ArrayList<>();