diff --git a/dvc/dependency/repo.py b/dvc/dependency/repo.py
index 4e1598d204..f76344f119 100644
--- a/dvc/dependency/repo.py
+++ b/dvc/dependency/repo.py
@@ -50,13 +50,24 @@ def _make_repo(self, *, locked=True):
         return external_repo(d["url"], rev=rev)
 
     def _get_checksum(self, locked=True):
+        from dvc.repo.tree import RepoTree
+
         with self._make_repo(locked=locked) as repo:
             try:
                 return repo.find_out_by_relpath(self.def_path).info["md5"]
             except OutputNotFoundError:
                 path = PathInfo(os.path.join(repo.root_dir, self.def_path))
+
+                # we want stream but not fetch, so DVC out directories are
+                # walked, but dir contents is not fetched
+                tree = RepoTree(repo, stream=True)
+
                 # We are polluting our repo cache with some dir listing here
-                return self.repo.cache.local.get_checksum(path)
+                if tree.isdir(path):
+                    return self.repo.cache.local.get_dir_checksum(
+                        path, tree=tree
+                    )
+                return tree.get_file_checksum(path)
 
     def status(self):
         current_checksum = self._get_checksum(locked=True)
diff --git a/dvc/remote/base.py b/dvc/remote/base.py
index ab36047861..d66dfd5510 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/base.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/base.py
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ def _collect_dir(self, path_info, tree=None, save_tree=False, **kwargs):
             file_infos.add(fname)
 
         if tree:
-            checksums = {fi: tree.get_checksum(fi) for fi in file_infos}
+            checksums = {fi: tree.get_file_checksum(fi) for fi in file_infos}
             if save_tree:
                 for fi, checksum in checksums.items():
                     self._save_file(fi, checksum, tree=tree, **kwargs)
@@ -259,11 +259,14 @@ def _collect_dir(self, path_info, tree=None, save_tree=False, **kwargs):
         # Sorting the list by path to ensure reproducibility
         return sorted(result, key=itemgetter(self.PARAM_RELPATH))
 
-    def get_dir_checksum(self, path_info):
+    def get_dir_checksum(self, path_info, tree=None):
         if not self.cache:
             raise RemoteCacheRequiredError(path_info)
 
-        dir_info = self._collect_dir(path_info)
+        dir_info = self._collect_dir(path_info, tree=None)
+        if tree:
+            # don't save state entry for path_info if it is a tree path
+            path_info = None
         return self._save_dir_info(dir_info, path_info)
 
     def _save_dir_info(self, dir_info, path_info=None):