diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.spec.ts
index 99ec136ba1de6..e47fcce457052 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.spec.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 import { ProjectGraph } from '../config/project-graph';
 import { ProjectsConfigurations } from '../config/workspace-json-project-json';
 import { NxJsonConfiguration } from '../config/nx-json';
+import { nxVersion } from '../utils/versions';
 
 describe('nx deps utils', () => {
   describe('shouldRecomputeWholeGraph', () => {
@@ -34,14 +35,11 @@ describe('nx deps utils', () => {
       ).toEqual(true);
     });
 
-    it('should be true when version of nrwl/workspace changes', () => {
+    it('should be true when version of nx changes', () => {
       expect(
         shouldRecomputeWholeGraph(
           createCache({
-            deps: {
-              '@nx/workspace': '12.0.1',
-              plugin: '1.0.0',
-            },
+            nxVersion: '12.0.1',
           }),
           createPackageJsonDeps({}),
           createProjectsConfiguration({}),
@@ -317,10 +315,8 @@ describe('nx deps utils', () => {
   function createCache(p: Partial<ProjectGraphCache>): ProjectGraphCache {
     const defaults: ProjectGraphCache = {
       version: '5.1',
-      deps: {
-        '@nx/workspace': '12.0.0',
-        plugin: '1.0.0',
-      },
+      nxVersion: nxVersion,
+      deps: {},
       pathMappings: {
         mylib: ['libs/mylib/index.ts'],
       },
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.ts
index cdb1f9631e165..0490062dcd555 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/nx-deps-cache.ts
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@ import {
   readJsonFile,
   writeJsonFile,
 } from '../utils/fileutils';
+import { nxVersion } from '../utils/versions';
 
 export interface ProjectGraphCache {
   version: string;
+  nxVersion: string;
   deps: Record<string, string>;
   pathMappings: Record<string, any>;
   nxJsonPlugins: { name: string; version: string }[];
@@ -93,7 +95,8 @@ export function createCache(
   }));
   const newValue: ProjectGraphCache = {
     version: projectGraph.version || '5.1',
-    deps: packageJsonDeps,
+    nxVersion: nxVersion,
+    deps: packageJsonDeps, // TODO(v18): We can remove this in favor of nxVersion
     // compilerOptions may not exist, especially for package-based repos
     pathMappings: tsConfig?.compilerOptions?.paths || {},
     nxJsonPlugins,
@@ -149,13 +152,7 @@ export function shouldRecomputeWholeGraph(
   if (cache.version !== '5.1') {
     return true;
   }
-  if (
-    cache.deps['@nx/workspace'] !== packageJsonDeps['@nx/workspace'] ||
-    cache.deps['@nrwl/workspace'] !== packageJsonDeps['@nrwl/workspace']
-  ) {
-    return true;
-  }
-  if (cache.deps['nx'] !== packageJsonDeps['nx']) {
+  if (cache.nxVersion !== nxVersion) {
     return true;
   }