diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index e5bc757b..ba4515da 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -189,9 +189,16 @@ dependencies {
     implementation "io.swagger.parser.v3:swagger-parser-core:${swaggerVersion}"
     implementation "io.swagger.parser.v3:swagger-parser:${swaggerVersion}"
     implementation "io.swagger.parser.v3:swagger-parser-v3:${swaggerVersion}"
-    implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:${jacksonVersion}"
-    implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jsr310:${jacksonVersion}"
-    implementation "com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations:${jacksonVersion}"
+    // Declare and force Jackson dependencies for tests
+    testImplementation("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind") {
+        version { strictly("${jacksonVersion}") }
+    }
+    testImplementation("com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype:jackson-datatype-jsr310") {
+        version { strictly("${jacksonVersion}") }
+    }
+    testImplementation("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations") {
+        version { strictly("${jacksonVersion}") }
+    }
 
     // ZipArchive dependencies used for integration tests
     zipArchive group: 'org.opensearch.plugin', name:'opensearch-ml-plugin', version: "${opensearch_build}"
@@ -202,7 +209,7 @@ dependencies {
     configurations.all {
         resolutionStrategy {
             force("com.google.guava:guava:33.3.1-jre") // CVE for 31.1, keep to force transitive dependencies
-            force("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core:2.18.0") // Dependency Jar Hell
+            force("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core:${jacksonVersion}") // Dependency Jar Hell
             force("org.apache.httpcomponents.core5:httpcore5:5.3") // Dependency Jar Hell
         }
     }