diff --git a/build/dependencies.props b/build/dependencies.props
index d7639f9d50..2491ae04f7 100644
--- a/build/dependencies.props
+++ b/build/dependencies.props
@@ -49,6 +49,19 @@
   <PropertyGroup Label="Package Versions: Pinned">
     <AngleSharpPackageVersion>0.9.9</AngleSharpPackageVersion>
     <BenchmarkDotNetPackageVersion>0.10.13</BenchmarkDotNetPackageVersion>
+
+    <!--
+      BenchmarksOnly* package versions come from NuGet.org and are intended only for use in benchmarks apps where EF
+      is not otherwise referenced. They avoid unnecessary changes to the Universe build graph or to product
+      dependencies. Do not use these properties elsewhere.
+    -->
+    <BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreDesignPackageVersion>2.1.0</BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreDesignPackageVersion>
+    <BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlitePackageVersion>2.1.0</BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlitePackageVersion>
+    <BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlServerPackageVersion>2.1.0</BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlServerPackageVersion>
+    <BenchmarksOnlyMySqlConnectorPackageVersion>0.42.1</BenchmarksOnlyMySqlConnectorPackageVersion>
+    <BenchmarksOnlyNpgsqlEntityFrameworkCorePostgreSQLPackageVersion>2.1.0</BenchmarksOnlyNpgsqlEntityFrameworkCorePostgreSQLPackageVersion>
+    <BenchmarksOnlyPomeloEntityFrameworkCoreMySqlPackageVersion>2.1.0-rc1-final</BenchmarksOnlyPomeloEntityFrameworkCoreMySqlPackageVersion>
+
     <CastleCorePackageVersion>4.2.1</CastleCorePackageVersion>
     <DevDependency_MicrosoftDotNetBuildTasksFeedPackageVersion>2.1.0-prerelease-02430-04</DevDependency_MicrosoftDotNetBuildTasksFeedPackageVersion>
     <DevDependency_MicrosoftExtensionsDependencyModelPackageVersion>2.0.0</DevDependency_MicrosoftExtensionsDependencyModelPackageVersion>
diff --git a/build/external-dependencies.props b/build/external-dependencies.props
index c37a11e2e4..242be12a8a 100644
--- a/build/external-dependencies.props
+++ b/build/external-dependencies.props
@@ -48,6 +48,18 @@
     <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.VisualBasic.Workspaces" Version="$(VSIX_MicrosoftCodeAnalysisVisualBasicWorkspacesPackageVersion)" VariableName="VSIX_MicrosoftCodeAnalysisVisualBasicWorkspacesPackageVersion" />
     <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.Common" Version="$(VSIX_MicrosoftCodeAnalysisWorkspacesCommonPackageVersion)" VariableName="VSIX_MicrosoftCodeAnalysisWorkspacesCommonPackageVersion" />
 
+    <!--
+      BenchmarksOnly* package versions come from NuGet.org and are intended only for use in benchmarks apps where EF
+      is not otherwise referenced. They avoid unnecessary changes to the Universe build graph or to product
+      dependencies. Do not use these external dependencies elsewhere.
+    -->
+    <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design" Version="$(BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreDesignPackageVersion)" />
+    <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite" Version="$(BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlitePackageVersion)" />
+    <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="$(BenchmarksOnlyMicrosoftEntityFrameworkCoreSqlServerPackageVersion)" />
+    <ExternalDependency Include="MySqlConnector" Version="$(BenchmarksOnlyMySqlConnectorPackageVersion)" />
+    <ExternalDependency Include="Npgsql.EntityFrameworkCore.PostgreSQL" Version="$(BenchmarksOnlyNpgsqlEntityFrameworkCorePostgreSQLPackageVersion)" />
+    <ExternalDependency Include="Pomelo.EntityFrameworkCore.MySql" Version="$(BenchmarksOnlyPomeloEntityFrameworkCoreMySqlPackageVersion)" />
+
     <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.CSharp" Version="$(MicrosoftCSharpPackageVersion)" />
     <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel" Version="$(MicrosoftDotNetProjectModelPackageVersion)" />
     <ExternalDependency Include="Microsoft.DiaSymReader.Native" Version="$(MicrosoftDiaSymReaderNativePackageVersion)" />