diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/81606-ansible-galaxy-collection-pre-releases.yml b/changelogs/fragments/81606-ansible-galaxy-collection-pre-releases.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..129ccfd2507
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/81606-ansible-galaxy-collection-pre-releases.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+
+bugfixes:
+- >-
+  ansible-galaxy - started allowing the use of pre-releases
+  for dependencies on any level of the dependency tree that
+  specifically demand exact pre-release versions of
+  collections and not version ranges.
+  (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/81606)
+- >-
+  ansible-galaxy - started allowing the use of pre-releases
+  for collections that do not have any stable versions
+  published.
+  (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/81606)
+
+...
diff --git a/lib/ansible/galaxy/collection/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/galaxy/collection/__init__.py
index 5257c705984..36e4c487bcf 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/galaxy/collection/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/galaxy/collection/__init__.py
@@ -1814,7 +1814,6 @@ def _resolve_depenency_map(
     collection_dep_resolver = build_collection_dependency_resolver(
         galaxy_apis=galaxy_apis,
         concrete_artifacts_manager=concrete_artifacts_manager,
-        user_requirements=requested_requirements,
         preferred_candidates=preferred_candidates,
         with_deps=not no_deps,
         with_pre_releases=allow_pre_release,
diff --git a/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/__init__.py b/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/__init__.py
index cfde7df0f98..eeffd299648 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/__init__.py
@@ -13,10 +13,7 @@ if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
     from ansible.galaxy.collection.concrete_artifact_manager import (
         ConcreteArtifactsManager,
     )
-    from ansible.galaxy.dependency_resolution.dataclasses import (
-        Candidate,
-        Requirement,
-    )
+    from ansible.galaxy.dependency_resolution.dataclasses import Candidate
 
 from ansible.galaxy.collection.galaxy_api_proxy import MultiGalaxyAPIProxy
 from ansible.galaxy.dependency_resolution.providers import CollectionDependencyProvider
@@ -27,7 +24,6 @@ from ansible.galaxy.dependency_resolution.resolvers import CollectionDependencyR
 def build_collection_dependency_resolver(
         galaxy_apis,  # type: t.Iterable[GalaxyAPI]
         concrete_artifacts_manager,  # type: ConcreteArtifactsManager
-        user_requirements,  # type: t.Iterable[Requirement]
         preferred_candidates=None,  # type: t.Iterable[Candidate]
         with_deps=True,  # type: bool
         with_pre_releases=False,  # type: bool
@@ -44,7 +40,6 @@ def build_collection_dependency_resolver(
         CollectionDependencyProvider(
             apis=MultiGalaxyAPIProxy(galaxy_apis, concrete_artifacts_manager, offline=offline),
             concrete_artifacts_manager=concrete_artifacts_manager,
-            user_requirements=user_requirements,
             preferred_candidates=preferred_candidates,
             with_deps=with_deps,
             with_pre_releases=with_pre_releases,
diff --git a/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/dataclasses.py b/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/dataclasses.py
index e1940d771a6..393d729af7e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/dataclasses.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/dataclasses.py
@@ -564,6 +564,27 @@ class _ComputedReqKindsMixin:
     def is_online_index_pointer(self):
         return not self.is_concrete_artifact
 
+    @property
+    def is_pinned(self):
+        """Indicate if the version set is considered pinned.
+
+        This essentially computes whether the version field of the current
+        requirement explicitly requests a specific version and not an allowed
+        version range.
+
+        It is then used to help the resolvelib-based dependency resolver judge
+        whether it's acceptable to consider a pre-release candidate version
+        despite pre-release installs not being requested by the end-user
+        explicitly.
+
+        See https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/81606 for extra context.
+        """
+        version_string = self.ver[0]
+        return version_string.isdigit() or not (
+            version_string == '*' or
+            version_string.startswith(('<', '>', '!='))
+        )
+
     @property
     def source_info(self):
         return self._source_info
diff --git a/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/providers.py b/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/providers.py
index 19fb2acae54..f13d3ecf2df 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/providers.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/galaxy/dependency_resolution/providers.py
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ class CollectionDependencyProviderBase(AbstractProvider):
             self,  # type: CollectionDependencyProviderBase
             apis,  # type: MultiGalaxyAPIProxy
             concrete_artifacts_manager=None,  # type: ConcreteArtifactsManager
-            user_requirements=None,  # type: t.Iterable[Requirement]
             preferred_candidates=None,  # type: t.Iterable[Candidate]
             with_deps=True,  # type: bool
             with_pre_releases=False,  # type: bool
@@ -87,58 +86,12 @@ class CollectionDependencyProviderBase(AbstractProvider):
             Requirement.from_requirement_dict,
             art_mgr=concrete_artifacts_manager,
         )
-        self._pinned_candidate_requests = set(
-            # NOTE: User-provided signatures are supplemental, so signatures
-            # NOTE: are not used to determine if a candidate is user-requested
-            Candidate(req.fqcn, req.ver, req.src, req.type, None)
-            for req in (user_requirements or ())
-            if req.is_concrete_artifact or (
-                req.ver != '*' and
-                not req.ver.startswith(('<', '>', '!='))
-            )
-        )
         self._preferred_candidates = set(preferred_candidates or ())
         self._with_deps = with_deps
         self._with_pre_releases = with_pre_releases
         self._upgrade = upgrade
         self._include_signatures = include_signatures
 
-    def _is_user_requested(self, candidate):  # type: (Candidate) -> bool
-        """Check if the candidate is requested by the user."""
-        if candidate in self._pinned_candidate_requests:
-            return True
-
-        if candidate.is_online_index_pointer and candidate.src is not None:
-            # NOTE: Candidate is a namedtuple, it has a source server set
-            # NOTE: to a specific GalaxyAPI instance or `None`. When the
-            # NOTE: user runs
-            # NOTE:
-            # NOTE:     $ ansible-galaxy collection install ns.coll
-            # NOTE:
-            # NOTE: then it's saved in `self._pinned_candidate_requests`
-            # NOTE: as `('ns.coll', '*', None, 'galaxy')` but then
-            # NOTE: `self.find_matches()` calls `self.is_satisfied_by()`
-            # NOTE: with Candidate instances bound to each specific
-            # NOTE: server available, those look like
-            # NOTE: `('ns.coll', '*', GalaxyAPI(...), 'galaxy')` and
-            # NOTE: wouldn't match the user requests saved in
-            # NOTE: `self._pinned_candidate_requests`. This is why we
-            # NOTE: normalize the collection to have `src=None` and try
-            # NOTE: again.
-            # NOTE:
-            # NOTE: When the user request comes from `requirements.yml`
-            # NOTE: with the `source:` set, it'll match the first check
-            # NOTE: but it still can have entries with `src=None` so this
-            # NOTE: normalized check is still necessary.
-            # NOTE:
-            # NOTE: User-provided signatures are supplemental, so signatures
-            # NOTE: are not used to determine if a candidate is user-requested
-            return Candidate(
-                candidate.fqcn, candidate.ver, None, candidate.type, None
-            ) in self._pinned_candidate_requests
-
-        return False
-
     def identify(self, requirement_or_candidate):
         # type: (t.Union[Candidate, Requirement]) -> str
         """Given requirement or candidate, return an identifier for it.
@@ -342,25 +295,79 @@ class CollectionDependencyProviderBase(AbstractProvider):
         latest_matches = []
         signatures = []
         extra_signature_sources = []  # type: list[str]
+
+        discarding_pre_releases_acceptable = any(
+            not is_pre_release(candidate_version)
+            for candidate_version, _src_server in coll_versions
+        )
+
+        # NOTE: The optimization of conditionally looping over the requirements
+        # NOTE: is used to skip having to compute the pinned status of all
+        # NOTE: requirements and apply version normalization to the found ones.
+        all_pinned_requirement_version_numbers = {
+            # NOTE: Pinned versions can start with a number, but also with an
+            # NOTE: equals sign. Stripping it at the beginning should be
+            # NOTE: enough. If there's a space after equals, the second strip
+            # NOTE: will take care of it.
+            # NOTE: Without this conversion, requirements versions like
+            # NOTE: '1.2.3-alpha.4' work, but '=1.2.3-alpha.4' don't.
+            requirement.ver.lstrip('=').strip()
+            for requirement in requirements
+            if requirement.is_pinned
+        } if discarding_pre_releases_acceptable else set()
+
         for version, src_server in coll_versions:
             tmp_candidate = Candidate(fqcn, version, src_server, 'galaxy', None)
 
-            unsatisfied = False
             for requirement in requirements:
-                unsatisfied |= not self.is_satisfied_by(requirement, tmp_candidate)
+                candidate_satisfies_requirement = self.is_satisfied_by(
+                    requirement, tmp_candidate,
+                )
+                if not candidate_satisfies_requirement:
+                    break
+
+                should_disregard_pre_release_candidate = (
+                    # NOTE: Do not discard pre-release candidates in the
+                    # NOTE: following cases:
+                    # NOTE:   * the end-user requested pre-releases explicitly;
+                    # NOTE:   * the candidate is a concrete artifact (e.g. a
+                    # NOTE:     Git repository, subdirs, a tarball URL, or a
+                    # NOTE:     local dir or file etc.);
+                    # NOTE:   * the candidate's pre-release version exactly
+                    # NOTE:     matches a version specifically requested by one
+                    # NOTE:     of the requirements in the current match
+                    # NOTE:     discovery round (i.e. matching a requirement
+                    # NOTE:     that is not a range but an explicit specific
+                    # NOTE:     version pin). This works when some requirements
+                    # NOTE:     request version ranges but others (possibly on
+                    # NOTE:     different dependency tree level depths) demand
+                    # NOTE:     pre-release dependency versions, even if those
+                    # NOTE:     dependencies are transitive.
+                    is_pre_release(tmp_candidate.ver)
+                    and discarding_pre_releases_acceptable
+                    and not (
+                        self._with_pre_releases
+                        or tmp_candidate.is_concrete_artifact
+                        or version in all_pinned_requirement_version_numbers
+                    )
+                )
+                if should_disregard_pre_release_candidate:
+                    break
+
                 # FIXME
-                # unsatisfied |= not self.is_satisfied_by(requirement, tmp_candidate) or not (
-                #    requirement.src is None or  # if this is true for some candidates but not all it will break key param - Nonetype can't be compared to str
+                # candidate_is_from_requested_source = (
+                #    requirement.src is None  # if this is true for some candidates but not all it will break key param - Nonetype can't be compared to str
                 #    or requirement.src == candidate.src
                 # )
-                if unsatisfied:
-                    break
+                # if not candidate_is_from_requested_source:
+                #     break
+
                 if not self._include_signatures:
                     continue
 
                 extra_signature_sources.extend(requirement.signature_sources or [])
 
-            if not unsatisfied:
+            else:  # candidate satisfies requirements, `break` never happened
                 if self._include_signatures:
                     for extra_source in extra_signature_sources:
                         signatures.append(get_signature_from_source(extra_source))
@@ -405,21 +412,6 @@ class CollectionDependencyProviderBase(AbstractProvider):
         :returns: Indication whether the `candidate` is a viable \
                   solution to the `requirement`.
         """
-        # NOTE: Only allow pre-release candidates if we want pre-releases
-        # NOTE: or the req ver was an exact match with the pre-release
-        # NOTE: version. Another case where we'd want to allow
-        # NOTE: pre-releases is when there are several user requirements
-        # NOTE: and one of them is a pre-release that also matches a
-        # NOTE: transitive dependency of another requirement.
-        allow_pre_release = self._with_pre_releases or not (
-            requirement.ver == '*' or
-            requirement.ver.startswith('<') or
-            requirement.ver.startswith('>') or
-            requirement.ver.startswith('!=')
-        ) or self._is_user_requested(candidate)
-        if is_pre_release(candidate.ver) and not allow_pre_release:
-            return False
-
         # NOTE: This is a set of Pipenv-inspired optimizations. Ref:
         # https://github.com/sarugaku/passa/blob/2ac00f1/src/passa/models/providers.py#L58-L74
         if (
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/main.yml
index 724c861e696..185bde8fbe8 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/main.yml
@@ -135,6 +135,17 @@
   loop_control:
     loop_var: resolvelib_version
 
+- name: test choosing pinned pre-releases anywhere in the dependency tree
+  # This is a regression test for the case when the end-user does not
+  # explicitly allow installing pre-release collection versions, but their
+  # precise pins are still selected if met among the dependencies, either
+  # direct or transitive.
+  include_tasks: pinned_pre_releases_in_deptree.yml
+
+- name: test installing prereleases via scm direct requests
+  # In this test suite because the bug relies on the dep having versions on a Galaxy server
+  include_tasks: virtual_direct_requests.yml
+
 - name: publish collection with a dep on another server
   setup_collections:
     server: secondary
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/pinned_pre_releases_in_deptree.yml b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/pinned_pre_releases_in_deptree.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..60a0a796cc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/pinned_pre_releases_in_deptree.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+---
+
+- name: >-
+    test that the dependency resolver chooses pre-releases if they are pinned
+  environment:
+    ANSIBLE_COLLECTIONS_PATH: '{{ galaxy_dir }}'
+    ANSIBLE_CONFIG: '{{ galaxy_dir }}/ansible.cfg'
+  block:
+  - name: reset installation directory
+    file:
+      state: "{{ item }}"
+      path: "{{ galaxy_dir }}/ansible_collections"
+    loop:
+    - absent
+    - directory
+
+  - name: >-
+      install collections with pre-release versions in the dependency tree
+    command: >-
+      ansible-galaxy collection install
+      meta_ns_with_trans_wildcard_dep.meta_name_w_trans_wildcard_dep
+      rc_meta_ns_with_trans_dev_dep.rc_meta_nm_w_transitive_dev_dep:=2.4.5-rc5
+      {{ galaxy_verbosity }}
+    register: prioritize_direct_req
+  - assert:
+      that:
+      - >-
+        "rc_meta_ns_with_trans_dev_dep.rc_meta_nm_w_transitive_dev_dep:2.4.5-rc5 was installed successfully"
+        in prioritize_direct_req.stdout
+      - >-
+        "meta_ns_with_trans_wildcard_dep.meta_name_w_trans_wildcard_dep:4.5.6 was installed successfully"
+        in prioritize_direct_req.stdout
+      - >-
+        "ns_with_dev_dep.name_with_dev_dep:6.7.8 was installed successfully"
+        in prioritize_direct_req.stdout
+      - >-
+        "ns_with_wildcard_dep.name_with_wildcard_dep:5.6.7-beta.3 was installed successfully"
+        in prioritize_direct_req.stdout
+      - >-
+        "dev_and_stables_ns.dev_and_stables_name:1.2.3-dev0 was installed successfully"
+        in prioritize_direct_req.stdout
+
+  - name: cleanup
+    file:
+      state: "{{ item }}"
+      path: "{{ galaxy_dir }}/ansible_collections"
+    loop:
+    - absent
+    - directory
+
+  - name: >-
+      install collection that only has pre-release versions published
+      to the index
+    command: >-
+      ansible-galaxy collection install
+      rc_meta_ns_with_trans_dev_dep.rc_meta_nm_w_transitive_dev_dep:*
+      {{ galaxy_verbosity }}
+    register: select_pre_release_if_no_stable
+  - assert:
+      that:
+      - >-
+        "rc_meta_ns_with_trans_dev_dep.rc_meta_nm_w_transitive_dev_dep:2.4.5-rc5 was installed successfully"
+        in select_pre_release_if_no_stable.stdout
+      - >-
+        "ns_with_dev_dep.name_with_dev_dep:6.7.8 was installed successfully"
+        in select_pre_release_if_no_stable.stdout
+      - >-
+        "dev_and_stables_ns.dev_and_stables_name:1.2.3-dev0 was installed successfully"
+        in select_pre_release_if_no_stable.stdout
+  always:
+  - name: cleanup
+    file:
+      state: "{{ item }}"
+      path: "{{ galaxy_dir }}/ansible_collections"
+    loop:
+    - absent
+    - directory
+
+...
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/virtual_direct_requests.yml b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/virtual_direct_requests.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7b1931f0cc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/tasks/virtual_direct_requests.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+- environment:
+    ANSIBLE_CONFIG: '{{ galaxy_dir }}/ansible.cfg'
+  vars:
+    scm_path: "{{ galaxy_dir }}/scms"
+    metadata:
+      collection1: |-
+        name: collection1
+        version: "1.0.0"
+        dependencies:
+          test_prereleases.collection2: '*'
+      collection2: |
+        name: collection2
+        version: "1.0.0-dev0"
+        dependencies: {}
+      namespace_boilerplate: |-
+        namespace: test_prereleases
+        readme: README.md
+        authors:
+          - "ansible-core"
+        description: test prerelease priority with virtual collections
+        license:
+          - GPL-2.0-or-later
+        license_file: ''
+        tags: []
+        repository: https://github.com/ansible/ansible
+        documentation: https://github.com/ansible/ansible
+        homepage: https://github.com/ansible/ansible
+        issues: https://github.com/ansible/ansible
+        build_ignore: []
+  block:
+    - name: Initialize git repository
+      command: 'git init {{ scm_path }}/test_prereleases'
+
+    - name: Configure commiter for the repo
+      shell: git config user.email ansible-test@ansible.com && git config user.name ansible-test
+      args:
+        chdir: "{{ scm_path }}/test_prereleases"
+
+    - name: Add collections to the repo
+      file:
+        path: "{{ scm_path }}/test_prereleases/{{ item }}"
+        state: directory
+      loop:
+        - collection1
+        - collection2
+
+    - name: Add collection metadata
+      copy:
+        dest: "{{ scm_path }}/test_prereleases/{{ item }}/galaxy.yml"
+        content: "{{ metadata[item] + '\n' + metadata['namespace_boilerplate'] }}"
+      loop:
+        - collection1
+        - collection2
+
+    - name: Save the changes
+      shell: git add . && git commit -m "Add collections to test installing a git repo directly takes priority over indirect Galaxy dep"
+      args:
+        chdir: '{{ scm_path }}/test_prereleases'
+
+    - name: Validate the dependency also exists on Galaxy before test
+      command: "ansible-galaxy collection install test_prereleases.collection2"
+      register: prereq
+      failed_when: '"test_prereleases.collection2:1.0.0 was installed successfully" not in prereq.stdout'
+
+    - name: Install collections from source
+      command: "ansible-galaxy collection install git+file://{{ scm_path }}/test_prereleases"
+      register: prioritize_direct_req
+
+    - assert:
+        that:
+          - '"test_prereleases.collection2:1.0.0-dev0 was installed successfully" in prioritize_direct_req.stdout'
+
+  always:
+    - name: Clean up test repos
+      file:
+        path: "{{ scm_path }}"
+        state: absent
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/vars/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/vars/main.yml
index d3f188b9061..9c1bb7619d8 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/vars/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/ansible-galaxy-collection/vars/main.yml
@@ -164,3 +164,41 @@ collection_list:
     name: parent
     dependencies:
       namespace1.name1: '*'
+
+  # non-prerelease is published to test that installing
+  # the pre-release from SCM doesn't accidentally prefer indirect
+  # dependencies from Galaxy
+  - namespace: test_prereleases
+    name: collection2
+    version: 1.0.0
+
+  - namespace: dev_and_stables_ns
+    name: dev_and_stables_name
+    version: 1.2.3-dev0
+  - namespace: dev_and_stables_ns
+    name: dev_and_stables_name
+    version: 1.2.4
+
+  - namespace: ns_with_wildcard_dep
+    name: name_with_wildcard_dep
+    version: 5.6.7-beta.3
+    dependencies:
+      dev_and_stables_ns.dev_and_stables_name: >-
+        *
+  - namespace: ns_with_dev_dep
+    name: name_with_dev_dep
+    version: 6.7.8
+    dependencies:
+      dev_and_stables_ns.dev_and_stables_name: 1.2.3-dev0
+
+  - namespace: rc_meta_ns_with_trans_dev_dep
+    name: rc_meta_nm_w_transitive_dev_dep
+    version: 2.4.5-rc5
+    dependencies:
+      ns_with_dev_dep.name_with_dev_dep: >-
+        *
+  - namespace: meta_ns_with_trans_wildcard_dep
+    name: meta_name_w_trans_wildcard_dep
+    version: 4.5.6
+    dependencies:
+      ns_with_wildcard_dep.name_with_wildcard_dep: 5.6.7-beta.3