diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformDialect.h b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformDialect.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformDialect.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformDialect.h
@@ -52,6 +52,26 @@
 /// expected to derive this class and register operations in the constructor.
 /// They can be registered with the DialectRegistry and automatically applied
 /// to the Transform dialect when it is loaded.
+///
+/// Derived classes are expected to define a `void init()` function in which
+/// they can call various protected methods of the base class to register
+/// extension operations and declare their dependencies.
+///
+/// By default, the extension is configured both for construction of the
+/// Transform IR and for its application to some payload. If only the
+/// construction is desired, the extension can be switched to "build-only" mode
+/// that avoids loading the dialects that are only necessary for transforming
+/// the payload. To perform the switch, the extension must be wrapped into the
+/// `BuildOnly` class template (see below) when it is registered, as in:
+///
+///    dialectRegistry.addExtension<BuildOnly<MyTransformDialectExt>>();
+///
+/// instead of:
+///
+///    dialectRegistry.addExtension<MyTransformDialectExt>();
+///
+/// Derived classes must reexport the constructor of this class or otherwise
+/// forward its boolean argument to support this behavior.
 template <typename DerivedTy, typename... ExtraDialects>
 class TransformDialectExtension
     : public DialectExtension<DerivedTy, TransformDialect, ExtraDialects...> {
@@ -65,12 +85,31 @@
              ExtraDialects *...) const final {
     for (const DialectLoader &loader : dialectLoaders)
       loader(context);
+
+    // Only load generated dialects if the user intends to apply
+    // transformations specified by the extension.
+    if (!buildOnly)
+      for (const DialectLoader &loader : generatedDialectLoaders)
+        loader(context);
+
     for (const Initializer &init : opInitializers)
       init(transformDialect);
     transformDialect->mergeInPDLMatchHooks(std::move(pdlMatchConstraintFns));
   }
 
 protected:
+  using Base = TransformDialectExtension<DerivedTy, ExtraDialects...>;
+
+  /// Extension constructor. The argument indicates whether to skip generated
+  /// dialects when applying the extension.
+  explicit TransformDialectExtension(bool buildOnly = false)
+      : buildOnly(buildOnly) {
+    static_cast<DerivedTy *>(this)->init();
+  }
+
+  /// Hook for derived classes to inject constructor behavior.
+  void init() {}
+
   /// Injects the operations into the Transform dialect. The operations must
   /// implement the TransformOpInterface and MemoryEffectsOpInterface, and the
   /// implementations must be already available when the operation is injected.
@@ -85,13 +124,28 @@
   /// provided as template parameter. When the Transform dialect is loaded,
   /// dependent dialects will be loaded as well. This is intended for dialects
   /// that contain attributes and types used in creation and canonicalization of
-  /// the injected operations.
+  /// the injected operations, similarly to how the dialect definition may list
+  /// dependent dialects. This is *not* intended for dialects entities from
+  /// which may be produced when applying the transformations specified by ops
+  /// registered by this extension.
   template <typename DialectTy>
   void declareDependentDialect() {
     dialectLoaders.push_back(
         [](MLIRContext *context) { context->loadDialect<DialectTy>(); });
   }
 
+  /// Declares that the transformations associated with the operations
+  /// registered by this dialect extension may produce operations from the
+  /// dialect provided as template parameter while processing payload IR that
+  /// does not contain the operations from said dialect. This is similar to
+  /// dependent dialects of a pass. These dialects will be loaded along with the
+  /// transform dialect unless the extension is in the build-only mode.
+  template <typename DialectTy>
+  void declareGeneratedDialect() {
+    generatedDialectLoaders.push_back(
+        [](MLIRContext *context) { context->loadDialect<DialectTy>(); });
+  }
+
   /// Injects the named constraint to make it available for use with the
   /// PDLMatchOp in the transform dialect.
   void registerPDLMatchConstraintFn(StringRef name,
@@ -108,14 +162,32 @@
 
 private:
   SmallVector<Initializer> opInitializers;
+
+  /// Callbacks loading the dependent dialects, i.e. the dialect needed for the
+  /// extension ops.
   SmallVector<DialectLoader> dialectLoaders;
 
-  /// A list of constraints that should be made availble to PDL patterns
+  /// Callbacks loading the generated dialects, i.e. the dialects produced when
+  /// applying the transformations.
+  SmallVector<DialectLoader> generatedDialectLoaders;
+
+  /// A list of constraints that should be made available to PDL patterns
   /// processed by PDLMatchOp in the Transform dialect.
   ///
   /// Declared as mutable so its contents can be moved in the `apply` const
   /// method, which is only called once.
   mutable llvm::StringMap<PDLConstraintFunction> pdlMatchConstraintFns;
+
+  /// Indicates that the extension is in build-only mode.
+  bool buildOnly;
+};
+
+/// A wrapper for transform dialect extensions that forces them to be
+/// constructed in the build-only mode.
+template <typename DerivedTy>
+class BuildOnly : public DerivedTy {
+public:
+  BuildOnly() : DerivedTy(/*buildOnly=*/true) {}
 };
 
 } // namespace transform
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/TransformOps/BufferizationTransformOps.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/TransformOps/BufferizationTransformOps.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/TransformOps/BufferizationTransformOps.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/TransformOps/BufferizationTransformOps.cpp
@@ -75,10 +75,14 @@
     : public transform::TransformDialectExtension<
           BufferizationTransformDialectExtension> {
 public:
-  BufferizationTransformDialectExtension() {
-    declareDependentDialect<bufferization::BufferizationDialect>();
+  using Base::Base;
+
+  void init() {
     declareDependentDialect<pdl::PDLDialect>();
-    declareDependentDialect<memref::MemRefDialect>();
+
+    declareGeneratedDialect<bufferization::BufferizationDialect>();
+    declareGeneratedDialect<memref::MemRefDialect>();
+
     registerTransformOps<
 #define GET_OP_LIST
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/TransformOps/BufferizationTransformOps.cpp.inc"
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Linalg/TransformOps/LinalgTransformOps.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Linalg/TransformOps/LinalgTransformOps.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Linalg/TransformOps/LinalgTransformOps.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Linalg/TransformOps/LinalgTransformOps.cpp
@@ -1069,12 +1069,16 @@
     : public transform::TransformDialectExtension<
           LinalgTransformDialectExtension> {
 public:
-  LinalgTransformDialectExtension() {
-    declareDependentDialect<AffineDialect>();
-    declareDependentDialect<arith::ArithmeticDialect>();
+  using Base::Base;
+
+  void init() {
     declareDependentDialect<pdl::PDLDialect>();
-    declareDependentDialect<scf::SCFDialect>();
-    declareDependentDialect<vector::VectorDialect>();
+
+    declareGeneratedDialect<AffineDialect>();
+    declareGeneratedDialect<arith::ArithmeticDialect>();
+    declareGeneratedDialect<scf::SCFDialect>();
+    declareGeneratedDialect<vector::VectorDialect>();
+
     registerTransformOps<
 #define GET_OP_LIST
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Linalg/TransformOps/LinalgTransformOps.cpp.inc"
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/SCF/TransformOps/SCFTransformOps.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/SCF/TransformOps/SCFTransformOps.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/SCF/TransformOps/SCFTransformOps.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/SCF/TransformOps/SCFTransformOps.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "mlir/Dialect/SCF/TransformOps/SCFTransformOps.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Affine/IR/AffineOps.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Func/IR/FuncOps.h"
+#include "mlir/Dialect/PDL/IR/PDL.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/SCF/IR/SCF.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/SCF/Transforms/Patterns.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/SCF/Transforms/Transforms.h"
@@ -233,9 +234,14 @@
     : public transform::TransformDialectExtension<
           SCFTransformDialectExtension> {
 public:
-  SCFTransformDialectExtension() {
-    declareDependentDialect<AffineDialect>();
-    declareDependentDialect<func::FuncDialect>();
+  using Base::Base;
+
+  void init() {
+    declareDependentDialect<pdl::PDLDialect>();
+
+    declareGeneratedDialect<AffineDialect>();
+    declareGeneratedDialect<func::FuncDialect>();
+
     registerTransformOps<
 #define GET_OP_LIST
 #include "mlir/Dialect/SCF/TransformOps/SCFTransformOps.cpp.inc"
diff --git a/mlir/test/lib/Dialect/Transform/TestTransformDialectExtension.cpp b/mlir/test/lib/Dialect/Transform/TestTransformDialectExtension.cpp
--- a/mlir/test/lib/Dialect/Transform/TestTransformDialectExtension.cpp
+++ b/mlir/test/lib/Dialect/Transform/TestTransformDialectExtension.cpp
@@ -295,7 +295,9 @@
     : public transform::TransformDialectExtension<
           TestTransformDialectExtension> {
 public:
-  TestTransformDialectExtension() {
+  using Base::Base;
+
+  void init() {
     declareDependentDialect<pdl::PDLDialect>();
     registerTransformOps<TestTransformOp,
                          TestTransformUnrestrictedOpNoInterface,
diff --git a/mlir/unittests/Dialect/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/unittests/Dialect/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/unittests/Dialect/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/unittests/Dialect/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,4 +12,5 @@
 add_subdirectory(Quant)
 add_subdirectory(SparseTensor)
 add_subdirectory(SPIRV)
+add_subdirectory(Transform)
 add_subdirectory(Utils)
diff --git a/mlir/unittests/Dialect/Transform/BuildOnlyExtensionTest.cpp b/mlir/unittests/Dialect/Transform/BuildOnlyExtensionTest.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/unittests/Dialect/Transform/BuildOnlyExtensionTest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+//===- BuildOnlyExtensionTest.cpp - unit test for transform extensions ----===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "mlir/Dialect/Func/IR/FuncOps.h"
+#include "mlir/Dialect/Transform/IR/TransformDialect.h"
+#include "mlir/IR/DialectRegistry.h"
+#include "mlir/IR/MLIRContext.h"
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+
+using namespace mlir;
+using namespace mlir::transform;
+
+namespace {
+class Extension : public TransformDialectExtension<Extension> {
+public:
+  using Base::Base;
+  void init() { declareGeneratedDialect<func::FuncDialect>(); }
+};
+} // end namespace
+
+TEST(BuildOnlyExtensionTest, buildOnlyExtension) {
+  // Register the build-only version of the transform dialect extension. The
+  // func dialect is declared as generated so it should not be loaded along with
+  // the transform dialect.
+  DialectRegistry registry;
+  registry.addExtensions<BuildOnly<Extension>>();
+  MLIRContext ctx(registry);
+  ctx.getOrLoadDialect<TransformDialect>();
+  ASSERT_FALSE(ctx.getLoadedDialect<func::FuncDialect>());
+}
+
+TEST(BuildOnlyExtensionTest, buildAndApplyExtension) {
+  // Register the full version of the transform dialect extension. The func
+  // dialect should be loaded along with the transform dialect.
+  DialectRegistry registry;
+  registry.addExtensions<Extension>();
+  MLIRContext ctx(registry);
+  ctx.getOrLoadDialect<TransformDialect>();
+  ASSERT_TRUE(ctx.getLoadedDialect<func::FuncDialect>());
+}
diff --git a/mlir/unittests/Dialect/Transform/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/unittests/Dialect/Transform/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mlir/unittests/Dialect/Transform/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+add_mlir_unittest(MLIRTransformDialectTests
+  BuildOnlyExtensionTest.cpp
+)
+target_link_libraries(MLIRTransformDialectTests
+  PRIVATE
+  MLIRFuncDialect
+  MLIRTransformDialect
+)
diff --git a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/unittests/BUILD.bazel b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/unittests/BUILD.bazel
--- a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/unittests/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/unittests/BUILD.bazel
@@ -179,6 +179,21 @@
     ],
 )
 
+cc_test(
+    name = "transform_dialect_tests",
+    size = "small",
+    srcs = glob([
+        "Dialect/Transform/*.cpp",
+        "Dialect/Transform/*.h",
+    ]),
+    deps = [
+        "//llvm:TestingSupport",
+        "//llvm:gtest_main",
+        "//mlir:FuncDialect",
+        "//mlir:TransformDialect",
+    ],
+)
+
 cc_test(
     name = "dialect_utils_tests",
     size = "small",