diff --git a/.changeset/tiny-pianos-mate.md b/.changeset/tiny-pianos-mate.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0264b2b7eab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tiny-pianos-mate.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/config": major
+"pnpm": major
+---
+
+By default don't run lifecycle scripts of dependencies during installation. In order to allow lifecycle scripts of specific dependencies, they should be listed in the `pnpm.onlyBuiltDependencies` field of `package.json` [#8897](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/pull/8897).
diff --git a/config/config/src/getOptionsFromRootManifest.ts b/config/config/src/getOptionsFromRootManifest.ts
index b9f51710351..042dc822b99 100644
--- a/config/config/src/getOptionsFromRootManifest.ts
+++ b/config/config/src/getOptionsFromRootManifest.ts
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@ export function getOptionsFromRootManifest (manifestDir: string, manifest: Proje
     }
   )
   const neverBuiltDependencies = manifest.pnpm?.neverBuiltDependencies
-  const onlyBuiltDependencies = manifest.pnpm?.onlyBuiltDependencies
+  let onlyBuiltDependencies = manifest.pnpm?.onlyBuiltDependencies
   const onlyBuiltDependenciesFile = manifest.pnpm?.onlyBuiltDependenciesFile
+  if (onlyBuiltDependenciesFile == null && neverBuiltDependencies == null) {
+    onlyBuiltDependencies = []
+  }
   const packageExtensions = manifest.pnpm?.packageExtensions
   const ignoredOptionalDependencies = manifest.pnpm?.ignoredOptionalDependencies
   const peerDependencyRules = manifest.pnpm?.peerDependencyRules
diff --git a/exec/plugin-commands-rebuild/test/index.ts b/exec/plugin-commands-rebuild/test/index.ts
index 127c2f9bf61..a8167545381 100644
--- a/exec/plugin-commands-rebuild/test/index.ts
+++ b/exec/plugin-commands-rebuild/test/index.ts
@@ -375,7 +375,11 @@ test(`rebuild should not fail on incomplete ${WANTED_LOCKFILE}`, async () => {
 })
 
 test('never build neverBuiltDependencies', async () => {
-  const project = prepare()
+  const project = prepare({
+    pnpm: {
+      neverBuiltDependencies: [],
+    },
+  })
   const cacheDir = path.resolve('cache')
   const storeDir = path.resolve('store')
 
diff --git a/pnpm/test/install/global.ts b/pnpm/test/install/global.ts
index 934c5555764..d0f398419ab 100644
--- a/pnpm/test/install/global.ts
+++ b/pnpm/test/install/global.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,9 @@ test('run lifecycle events of global packages in correct working directory', asy
   prepare()
   const global = path.resolve('..', 'global')
   const pnpmHome = path.join(global, 'pnpm')
-  fs.mkdirSync(global)
+  const globalPkgDir = path.join(pnpmHome, 'global', String(LAYOUT_VERSION))
+  fs.mkdirSync(globalPkgDir, { recursive: true })
+  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(globalPkgDir, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify({ pnpm: { neverBuiltDependencies: [] } }))
 
   const env = {
     [PATH_NAME]: `${pnpmHome}${path.delimiter}${process.env[PATH_NAME]!}`,
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ test('run lifecycle events of global packages in correct working directory', asy
 
   await execPnpm(['install', '-g', '@pnpm.e2e/postinstall-calls-pnpm@1.0.0'], { env })
 
-  expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(global, `pnpm/global/${LAYOUT_VERSION}/node_modules/@pnpm.e2e/postinstall-calls-pnpm/created-by-postinstall`))).toBeTruthy()
+  expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(globalPkgDir, 'node_modules/@pnpm.e2e/postinstall-calls-pnpm/created-by-postinstall'))).toBeTruthy()
 })
 
 test('global update to latest', async () => {
diff --git a/pnpm/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts b/pnpm/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts
index 80e628691c3..ca596c7e6c4 100644
--- a/pnpm/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts
+++ b/pnpm/test/install/lifecycleScripts.ts
@@ -103,7 +103,12 @@ test('prepare is executed after argumentless installation', () => {
 })
 
 test('dependency should not be added to package.json and lockfile if it was not built successfully', async () => {
-  const project = prepare({ name: 'foo', version: '1.0.0' })
+  const initialPkg = {
+    name: 'foo',
+    version: '1.0.0',
+    pnpm: { neverBuiltDependencies: [] },
+  }
+  const project = prepare(initialPkg)
 
   const result = execPnpmSync(['install', 'package-that-cannot-be-installed@0.0.0'])
 
@@ -114,7 +119,7 @@ test('dependency should not be added to package.json and lockfile if it was not
   expect(project.readLockfile()).toBeFalsy()
 
   const { default: pkg } = await import(path.resolve('package.json'))
-  expect(pkg).toStrictEqual({ name: 'foo', version: '1.0.0' })
+  expect(pkg).toStrictEqual(initialPkg)
 })
 
 test('node-gyp is in the PATH', async () => {
@@ -237,6 +242,9 @@ test('ignores pnpm.executionEnv specified by dependencies', async () => {
       // this package's package.json has pnpm.executionEnv.nodeVersion = '20.0.0'
       '@pnpm.e2e/has-execution-env': '1.0.0',
     },
+    pnpm: {
+      neverBuiltDependencies: [],
+    },
   })
 
   await execPnpm(['install'])
diff --git a/pnpm/test/monorepo/index.ts b/pnpm/test/monorepo/index.ts
index 991bbebe5a2..eef545b2352 100644
--- a/pnpm/test/monorepo/index.ts
+++ b/pnpm/test/monorepo/index.ts
@@ -1230,6 +1230,14 @@ auto-install-peers=false`, 'utf8')
 
 test('dependencies of workspace projects are built during headless installation', async () => {
   const projects = preparePackages([
+    {
+      location: '.',
+      package: {
+        pnpm: {
+          neverBuiltDependencies: [],
+        },
+      },
+    },
     {
       name: 'project-1',
       version: '1.0.0',