diff --git a/xbps-src/shutils/pkgtarget_funcs.sh.in b/xbps-src/shutils/pkgtarget_funcs.sh.in
index 6a6714b118..39670131c5 100644
--- a/xbps-src/shutils/pkgtarget_funcs.sh.in
+++ b/xbps-src/shutils/pkgtarget_funcs.sh.in
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ install_pkg()
 	# If XBPS_PREFER_BINPKG_DEPS is set, we should remove those
 	# package dependencies installed by the target package, do it.
 	#
-	if [ -n "$XBPS_PREFER_BINPKG_DEPS" ]; then
+	if [ -n "$XBPS_PREFER_BINPKG_DEPS" -a -z "$doing_deps" ]; then
 		msg_normal "Removing binary package dependencies...\n"
 		${XBPS_BIN_CMD} -Rpyf autoremove
 	fi