diff --git a/e2e/linter/src/linter.test.ts b/e2e/linter/src/linter.test.ts
index 751e8c0544c4a..304f8eafe9c66 100644
--- a/e2e/linter/src/linter.test.ts
+++ b/e2e/linter/src/linter.test.ts
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ describe('Linter', () => {
         import '@${projScope}/${invalidtaglib}';
         import '@${projScope}/${validtaglib}';
 
-        const s = {loadChildren: '@${projScope}/${lazylib}'};
+        const s = {loadChildren: '@secondScope/${lazylib}'};
       `
         );
 
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/package-json/create-package-json.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/package-json/create-package-json.ts
index 7ac6a9d5ccdac..954657ff0b813 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/package-json/create-package-json.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/package-json/create-package-json.ts
@@ -234,8 +234,6 @@ function findAllNpmDeps(
           seen,
           dependencyPatterns
         );
-      } else {
-        throw new Error(`Could not find ${dep} in the project graph.`);
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/explicit-project-dependencies.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/explicit-project-dependencies.ts
index f2ac0967445f1..385379fb2d8b3 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/explicit-project-dependencies.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/explicit-project-dependencies.ts
@@ -40,19 +40,28 @@ export function buildExplicitTypeScriptDependencies(
             importExpr,
             f.file
           );
+          let targetProjectName;
           if (target) {
             if (!isRoot(source) && isRoot(target)) {
               // TODO: These edges technically should be allowed but we need to figure out how to separate config files out from root
               return;
             }
 
-            res.push({
-              sourceProjectName: source,
-              targetProjectName: target,
-              sourceProjectFile: f.file,
-              type,
-            });
+            targetProjectName = target;
+          } else {
+            // treat all unknowns as npm packages, they can be eiher
+            // - mistyped local import, which has to be fixed manually
+            // - node internals, which should still be tracked as a dependency
+            // - npm packages, which are not yet installed but should be tracked
+            targetProjectName = `npm:${importExpr}`;
           }
+
+          res.push({
+            sourceProjectName: source,
+            targetProjectName,
+            sourceProjectFile: f.file,
+            type,
+          });
         }
       );
     });
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.spec.ts
index 1c195d11f139f..5da57d8ae5ce8 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.spec.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ describe('ProjectGraphBuilder', () => {
     expect(() =>
       builder.addImplicitDependency('source', 'invalid-target')
     ).toThrowError();
+    // this should not break, but should not exist in resulting dependencies either
+    builder.addStaticDependency('source', 'invalid-target', 'source/index.ts');
 
     // ignore the self deps
     builder.addDynamicDependency('source', 'source', 'source/index.ts');
@@ -91,13 +93,6 @@ describe('ProjectGraphBuilder', () => {
         'target'
       )
     ).toThrowError();
-    expect(() =>
-      builder.addExplicitDependency(
-        'source',
-        'source/index.ts',
-        'invalid-target'
-      )
-    ).toThrowError();
     expect(() =>
       builder.addExplicitDependency(
         'source',
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.ts
index 36773c22966f3..b651fc8071688 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/project-graph-builder.ts
@@ -175,41 +175,11 @@ export class ProjectGraphBuilder {
     sourceProjectFile: string,
     targetProjectName: string
   ): void {
-    if (sourceProjectName === targetProjectName) {
-      return;
-    }
-    const source = this.graph.nodes[sourceProjectName];
-    if (!source) {
-      throw new Error(`Source project does not exist: ${sourceProjectName}`);
-    }
-
-    if (
-      !this.graph.nodes[targetProjectName] &&
-      !this.graph.externalNodes[targetProjectName]
-    ) {
-      throw new Error(`Target project does not exist: ${targetProjectName}`);
-    }
-
-    const fileData = source.data.files.find(
-      (f) => f.file === sourceProjectFile
+    this.addStaticDependency(
+      sourceProjectName,
+      targetProjectName,
+      sourceProjectFile
     );
-    if (!fileData) {
-      throw new Error(
-        `Source project ${sourceProjectName} does not have a file: ${sourceProjectFile}`
-      );
-    }
-
-    if (!fileData.dependencies) {
-      fileData.dependencies = [];
-    }
-
-    if (!fileData.dependencies.find((t) => t.target === targetProjectName)) {
-      fileData.dependencies.push({
-        target: targetProjectName,
-        source: sourceProjectName,
-        type: DependencyType.static,
-      });
-    }
   }
 
   /**
@@ -229,6 +199,13 @@ export class ProjectGraphBuilder {
 
       const fileDeps = this.calculateTargetDepsFromFiles(sourceProject);
       for (const [targetProject, types] of fileDeps.entries()) {
+        // only add known nodes
+        if (
+          !this.graph.nodes[targetProject] &&
+          !this.graph.externalNodes[targetProject]
+        ) {
+          continue;
+        }
         for (const type of types.values()) {
           if (
             !alreadySetTargetProjects.has(targetProject) ||
@@ -268,7 +245,8 @@ export class ProjectGraphBuilder {
     }
     if (
       !this.graph.nodes[targetProjectName] &&
-      !this.graph.externalNodes[targetProjectName]
+      !this.graph.externalNodes[targetProjectName] &&
+      !sourceProjectFile
     ) {
       throw new Error(`Target project does not exist: ${targetProjectName}`);
     }