diff --git a/BUILD b/BUILD
index 25daba8e1e9..c7f66b2430a 100644
--- a/BUILD
+++ b/BUILD
@@ -418,7 +418,6 @@ grpc_cc_library(
     ],
     external_deps = [
         "nanopb",
-        "libssl",
     ],
     language = "c++",
     public_hdrs = [
diff --git a/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl b/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl
index afc5543795a..94781ed7ae5 100644
--- a/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl
+++ b/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl
@@ -60,10 +60,10 @@ def cc_grpc_library(name, srcs, deps, proto_only, well_known_protos, generate_mo
 
     if use_external:
       # when this file is used by non-grpc projects
-      grpc_deps = ["//external:grpc++", "//external:grpc++_codegen_proto",
+      grpc_deps = ["//external:grpc++_codegen_proto",
                    "//external:protobuf"]
     else:
-      grpc_deps = ["//:grpc++", "//:grpc++_codegen_proto", "//external:protobuf"]
+      grpc_deps = ["//:grpc++_codegen_proto", "//external:protobuf"]
 
     native.cc_library(
         name = name,