diff --git a/lua/lazy/core/plugin.lua b/lua/lazy/core/plugin.lua
index ae04a80..1a45afb 100644
--- a/lua/lazy/core/plugin.lua
+++ b/lua/lazy/core/plugin.lua
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ local M = {}
 ---@field is_local boolean
 ---@field is_symlink? boolean
 ---@field cloned? boolean
+---@field dep? boolean True if this plugin is only in the spec as a dependency
 
 ---@class LazyPluginRef
 ---@field branch? string
@@ -31,7 +32,6 @@ local M = {}
 ---@field name string display name and name used for plugin config files
 ---@field uri string
 ---@field dir string
----@field dep? boolean True if this plugin is only in the spec as a dependency
 ---@field enabled? boolean|(fun():boolean)
 ---@field lazy? boolean
 ---@field dependencies? string[]
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ function Spec:add(plugin, is_dep)
     plugin.name = slash and name:sub(#name - slash + 2) or pkg:gsub("%W+", "_")
   end
 
-  plugin.dep = is_dep
+  plugin._ = {}
+  plugin._.dep = is_dep
 
   -- check for plugins that should be local
   for _, pattern in ipairs(Config.options.dev.patterns) do
@@ -120,11 +121,11 @@ end
 ---@param new LazyPlugin
 ---@return LazyPlugin
 function Spec:merge(old, new)
-  local is_dep = old.dep and new.dep
+  local is_dep = old._.dep and new._.dep
 
   ---@diagnostic disable-next-line: no-unknown
   for k, v in pairs(new) do
-    if k == "dep" then
+    if k == "_" then
     elseif old[k] ~= nil and old[k] ~= v then
       if Handler.handlers[k] then
         local values = type(v) == "string" and { v } or v
@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ function Spec:merge(old, new)
       old[k] = v
     end
   end
-  old.dep = is_dep
+  old._.dep = is_dep
   return old
 end
 
@@ -155,7 +156,12 @@ function M.update_state()
   for _, plugin in pairs(Config.plugins) do
     plugin._ = plugin._ or {}
     if plugin.lazy == nil then
-      local lazy = plugin.dep or Config.options.defaults.lazy or plugin.event or plugin.keys or plugin.ft or plugin.cmd
+      local lazy = plugin._.dep
+        or Config.options.defaults.lazy
+        or plugin.event
+        or plugin.keys
+        or plugin.ft
+        or plugin.cmd
       plugin.lazy = lazy and true or false
     end
     plugin.dir = Config.root .. "/" .. plugin.name
diff --git a/tests/core/plugin_spec.lua b/tests/core/plugin_spec.lua
index 6608c03..7562f53 100644
--- a/tests/core/plugin_spec.lua
+++ b/tests/core/plugin_spec.lua
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ describe("plugin spec uri/name", function()
   }
 
   for _, test in ipairs(tests) do
+    test[2]._ = {}
     it("parses " .. vim.inspect(test[1]):gsub("%s+", " "), function()
       local spec = Plugin.Spec.new(test[1])
       local plugins = vim.tbl_values(spec.plugins)
@@ -42,11 +43,11 @@ describe("plugin spec opt", function()
       Plugin.update_state()
       assert(vim.tbl_count(spec.plugins) == 3)
       assert(#spec.plugins.bar.dependencies == 2)
-      assert(spec.plugins.bar.dep ~= true)
+      assert(spec.plugins.bar._.dep ~= true)
       assert(spec.plugins.bar.lazy == false)
-      assert(spec.plugins.dep1.dep == true)
+      assert(spec.plugins.dep1._.dep == true)
       assert(spec.plugins.dep1.lazy == true)
-      assert(spec.plugins.dep2.dep == true)
+      assert(spec.plugins.dep2._.dep == true)
       assert(spec.plugins.dep2.lazy == true)
     end
   end)
@@ -57,11 +58,11 @@ describe("plugin spec opt", function()
     Config.plugins = spec.plugins
     Plugin.update_state()
     assert.same(3, vim.tbl_count(spec.plugins))
-    assert(spec.plugins.bar.dep ~= true)
+    assert(spec.plugins.bar._.dep ~= true)
     assert(spec.plugins.bar.lazy == false)
-    assert(spec.plugins.dep2.dep == true)
+    assert(spec.plugins.dep2._.dep == true)
     assert(spec.plugins.dep2.lazy == true)
-    assert(spec.plugins.dep1.dep ~= true)
+    assert(spec.plugins.dep1._.dep ~= true)
     assert(spec.plugins.dep1.lazy == false)
   end)
 
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ describe("plugin spec opt", function()
     Config.plugins = spec.plugins
     Plugin.update_state()
     assert.same(1, vim.tbl_count(spec.plugins))
-    assert(spec.plugins.bar.dep ~= true)
+    assert(spec.plugins.bar._.dep ~= true)
     assert(spec.plugins.bar.lazy == true)
   end)