diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/SimpleSpawn.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/SimpleSpawn.java
index a9b6e547153ddc..8f45134de63f65 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/SimpleSpawn.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/SimpleSpawn.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ public final class SimpleSpawn implements Spawn {
   private final RunfilesSupplier runfilesSupplier;
   private final Map<Artifact, ImmutableList<FilesetOutputSymlink>> filesetMappings;
   private final ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> outputs;
+  private final ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> requiredLocalOutputs;
   private final ResourceSet localResources;
 
   public SimpleSpawn(
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ public SimpleSpawn(
       ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> inputs,
       ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> tools,
       ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> outputs,
+      ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> requiredLocalOutputs,
       ResourceSet localResources) {
     this.owner = Preconditions.checkNotNull(owner);
     this.arguments = Preconditions.checkNotNull(arguments);
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ public SimpleSpawn(
         runfilesSupplier == null ? EmptyRunfilesSupplier.INSTANCE : runfilesSupplier;
     this.filesetMappings = filesetMappings;
     this.outputs = Preconditions.checkNotNull(outputs);
+    this.requiredLocalOutputs = Preconditions.checkNotNull(requiredLocalOutputs);
     this.localResources = Preconditions.checkNotNull(localResources);
   }
 
@@ -81,6 +84,7 @@ public SimpleSpawn(
         inputs,
         ImmutableList.<Artifact>of(),
         outputs,
+        /* requiredLocalOutputs= */ ImmutableList.of(),
         localResources);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/Spawn.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/Spawn.java
index 3f7aa20a67cba7..5b0bb69353e139 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/Spawn.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/actions/Spawn.java
@@ -96,6 +96,18 @@ public interface Spawn {
    */
   Collection<? extends ActionInput> getOutputFiles();
 
+  /**
+   * Returns the collection of files that this command must write and make available via
+   * Bazel's {@link com.google.devtools.build.lib.vfs.FileSystem}. The returned outputs
+   * are a subset of the spawns's output {@link #getOutputFiles()}.
+   *
+   * <p>This is for use with remote execution, where as an optimization we don't want to
+   * stage (i.e. download) all output files of a spawn on disk.
+   */
+  default Collection<? extends ActionInput> getRequiredLocalOutputs() {
+    return ImmutableList.of();
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns the resource owner for local fallback.
    */
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/StandaloneTestStrategy.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/StandaloneTestStrategy.java
index 63c384d8e048a1..26595f230d0929 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/StandaloneTestStrategy.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/StandaloneTestStrategy.java
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ public TestRunnerSpawn createTestRunnerSpawn(
             /*inputs=*/ ImmutableList.copyOf(action.getInputs()),
             /*tools=*/ ImmutableList.<Artifact>of(),
             ImmutableList.copyOf(action.getSpawnOutputs()),
+            /*requiredLocalOutputs=*/ ImmutableList.of(),
             localResourceUsage);
     return new StandaloneTestRunnerSpawn(
         action, actionExecutionContext, spawn, tmpDir, coverageDir, workingDirectory, execRoot);
@@ -435,6 +436,7 @@ private Spawn createXmlGeneratingSpawn(TestRunnerAction action, SpawnResult resu
         /*inputs=*/ ImmutableList.of(action.getTestXmlGeneratorScript(), action.getTestLog()),
         /*tools=*/ ImmutableList.<Artifact>of(),
         /*outputs=*/ ImmutableList.of(ActionInputHelper.fromPath(action.getXmlOutputPath())),
+        /*requiredLocalOutputs=*/ ImmutableList.of(),
         SpawnAction.DEFAULT_RESOURCE_SET);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/cpp/SpawnGccStrategy.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/cpp/SpawnGccStrategy.java
index 0ba465a6b8a1ed..f25a1b6cc8923f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/cpp/SpawnGccStrategy.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/cpp/SpawnGccStrategy.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.ActionExecutionContext;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.ActionInput;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.Artifact;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.EmptyRunfilesSupplier;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.ExecException;
@@ -28,13 +29,10 @@
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.actions.SpawnResult;
 import java.util.List;
 
-/**
- * A context for C++ compilation that calls into a {@link SpawnActionContext}.
- */
+/** A context for C++ compilation that calls into a {@link SpawnActionContext}. */
 @ExecutionStrategy(
-  contextType = CppCompileActionContext.class,
-  name = {"spawn"}
-)
+    contextType = CppCompileActionContext.class,
+    name = {"spawn"})
 public class SpawnGccStrategy implements CppCompileActionContext {
   @Override
   public CppCompileActionResult execWithReply(
@@ -48,6 +46,14 @@ public CppCompileActionResult execWithReply(
              * not needed for execution.
              */
             action.getMandatoryInputs(), action.getAdditionalInputs());
+
+    ImmutableList<? extends ActionInput> requiredLocalOutputs = ImmutableList.of();
+    if (action.getDotdFile() != null) {
+      // .d file scanning happens locally even if the compiler was run remotely. We thus need
+      // to ensure that the .d file is staged on the local fileystem.
+      requiredLocalOutputs = ImmutableList.of(action.getDotdFile().artifact());
+    }
+
     Spawn spawn =
         new SimpleSpawn(
             action,
@@ -59,10 +65,12 @@ public CppCompileActionResult execWithReply(
             ImmutableList.copyOf(inputs),
             /* tools= */ ImmutableList.of(),
             action.getOutputs().asList(),
+            requiredLocalOutputs,
             action.estimateResourceConsumptionLocal());
-
+    
     List<SpawnResult> spawnResults =
-        actionExecutionContext.getContext(SpawnActionContext.class)
+        actionExecutionContext
+            .getContext(SpawnActionContext.class)
             .exec(spawn, actionExecutionContext);
     return CppCompileActionResult.builder().setSpawnResults(spawnResults).build();
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/util/SpawnBuilder.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/util/SpawnBuilder.java
index b425dedef2f852..2941d47f25a4bd 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/util/SpawnBuilder.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/exec/util/SpawnBuilder.java
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ public Spawn build() {
         ImmutableList.copyOf(inputs),
         /*tools=*/ ImmutableList.<Artifact>of(),
         ImmutableList.copyOf(outputs),
+        /*requiredLocalOutputs=*/ ImmutableList.of(),
         ResourceSet.ZERO);
   }