diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/build-dependencies/build-explicit-typescript-and-package-json-dependencies.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/build-dependencies/build-explicit-typescript-and-package-json-dependencies.ts
index 287d15fc82bb9..2d76a886f5cc5 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/build-dependencies/build-explicit-typescript-and-package-json-dependencies.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/build-dependencies/build-explicit-typescript-and-package-json-dependencies.ts
@@ -18,9 +18,17 @@ export function buildExplicitTypescriptAndPackageJsonDependencies(
   filesToProcess: ProjectFileMap
 ) {
   let res: ExplicitDependency[] = [];
+
+  let typescriptExists = false;
+
+  try {
+    require.resolve('typescript');
+    typescriptExists = true;
+  } catch {}
   if (
-    jsPluginConfig.analyzeSourceFiles === undefined ||
-    jsPluginConfig.analyzeSourceFiles === true
+    typescriptExists &&
+    (jsPluginConfig.analyzeSourceFiles === undefined ||
+      jsPluginConfig.analyzeSourceFiles === true)
   ) {
     res = res.concat(
       buildExplicitTypeScriptDependencies(projectGraph, filesToProcess)