diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/repository/RepositoryFunction.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/repository/RepositoryFunction.java
index ee2141d..f37ca6e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/repository/RepositoryFunction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/repository/RepositoryFunction.java
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@
    * encourage nor optimize for since it is not common. So the set of external files is small.
    */
   public static void addExternalFilesDependencies(
-      RootedPath rootedPath, BlazeDirectories directories, Environment env)
+      RootedPath rootedPath, boolean isDirectory, BlazeDirectories directories, Environment env)
       throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     Path externalRepoDir = getExternalRepositoryDirectory(directories);
     PathFragment repositoryPath = rootedPath.asPath().relativeTo(externalRepoDir);
@@ -531,8 +531,9 @@
         return;
       }
 
-      if (repositoryPath.segmentCount() > 1) {
-        if (rule.getRuleClass().equals(LocalRepositoryRule.NAME)
+      if (isDirectory || repositoryPath.segmentCount() > 1) {
+        if (!isDirectory
+            && rule.getRuleClass().equals(LocalRepositoryRule.NAME)
             && repositoryPath.endsWith(BuildFileName.WORKSPACE.getFilenameFragment())) {
           // Ignore this, there is a dependency from LocalRepositoryFunction->WORKSPACE file already
           return;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/DirectoryListingStateFunction.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/DirectoryListingStateFunction.java
index 49a6aaa..c3d3ce9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/DirectoryListingStateFunction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/DirectoryListingStateFunction.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
     RootedPath dirRootedPath = (RootedPath) skyKey.argument();
 
     try {
-      externalFilesHelper.maybeHandleExternalFile(dirRootedPath, env);
+      externalFilesHelper.maybeHandleExternalFile(dirRootedPath, true, env);
       if (env.valuesMissing()) {
         return null;
       }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ExternalFilesHelper.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ExternalFilesHelper.java
index aa7f036..abc7577 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ExternalFilesHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ExternalFilesHelper.java
@@ -197,15 +197,15 @@
   }
 
   /**
-   * If this instance is configured with
-   * {@link ExternalFileAction#DEPEND_ON_EXTERNAL_PKG_FOR_EXTERNAL_REPO_PATHS} and
-   * {@code rootedPath} isn't under a package root then this adds a dependency on the //external
-   * package. If the action is
+   * If this instance is configured with {@link
+   * ExternalFileAction#DEPEND_ON_EXTERNAL_PKG_FOR_EXTERNAL_REPO_PATHS} and {@code rootedPath} isn't
+   * under a package root then this adds a dependency on the //external package. If the action is
    * {@link ExternalFileAction#ASSUME_NON_EXISTENT_AND_IMMUTABLE_FOR_EXTERNAL_PATHS}, it will throw
    * a {@link NonexistentImmutableExternalFileException} instead.
    */
   @ThreadSafe
-  void maybeHandleExternalFile(RootedPath rootedPath, SkyFunction.Environment env)
+  void maybeHandleExternalFile(
+      RootedPath rootedPath, boolean isDirectory, SkyFunction.Environment env)
       throws NonexistentImmutableExternalFileException, IOException, InterruptedException {
     FileType fileType = getAndNoteFileType(rootedPath);
     if (fileType == FileType.INTERNAL) {
@@ -225,6 +225,6 @@
     Preconditions.checkState(
         externalFileAction == ExternalFileAction.DEPEND_ON_EXTERNAL_PKG_FOR_EXTERNAL_REPO_PATHS,
         externalFileAction);
-    RepositoryFunction.addExternalFilesDependencies(rootedPath, directories, env);
+    RepositoryFunction.addExternalFilesDependencies(rootedPath, isDirectory, directories, env);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/FileStateFunction.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/FileStateFunction.java
index 15b8763..940b2d7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/FileStateFunction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/FileStateFunction.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
     RootedPath rootedPath = (RootedPath) skyKey.argument();
 
     try {
-      externalFilesHelper.maybeHandleExternalFile(rootedPath, env);
+      externalFilesHelper.maybeHandleExternalFile(rootedPath, false, env);
       if (env.valuesMissing()) {
         return null;
       }