diff --git a/pkg/helmexec/exec.go b/pkg/helmexec/exec.go
index 34a6e5dc..08f1d5d3 100644
--- a/pkg/helmexec/exec.go
+++ b/pkg/helmexec/exec.go
@@ -204,6 +204,12 @@ func (helm *execer) AddRepo(name, repository, cafile, certfile, keyfile, usernam
 		return fmt.Errorf("empty field name")
 	}
 
+	savedExtra := helm.extra
+	helm.extra = []string{}
+	defer func() {
+		helm.extra = savedExtra
+	}()
+
 	switch managed {
 	case "acr":
 		helm.logger.Infof("Adding repo %v (acr)", name)
@@ -252,6 +258,11 @@ func (helm *execer) AddRepo(name, repository, cafile, certfile, keyfile, usernam
 
 func (helm *execer) UpdateRepo() error {
 	helm.logger.Info("Updating repo")
+	savedExtra := helm.extra
+	helm.extra = []string{}
+	defer func() {
+		helm.extra = savedExtra
+	}()
 	out, err := helm.exec([]string{"repo", "update"}, map[string]string{}, nil)
 	helm.info(out)
 	return err
diff --git a/pkg/state/state.go b/pkg/state/state.go
index ae699477..53570cca 100644
--- a/pkg/state/state.go
+++ b/pkg/state/state.go
@@ -1828,7 +1828,7 @@ func (st *HelmState) PrepareCharts(helm helmexec.Interface, dir string, concurre
 	}
 
 	if len(builds) > 0 {
-		if err := st.runHelmDepBuilds(helm, concurrency, builds); err != nil {
+		if err := st.runHelmDepBuilds(helm, concurrency, builds, opts); err != nil {
 			return nil, []error{err}
 		}
 	}
@@ -1837,7 +1837,7 @@ func (st *HelmState) PrepareCharts(helm helmexec.Interface, dir string, concurre
 }
 
 // nolint: unparam
-func (st *HelmState) runHelmDepBuilds(helm helmexec.Interface, concurrency int, builds []*chartPrepareResult) error {
+func (st *HelmState) runHelmDepBuilds(helm helmexec.Interface, concurrency int, builds []*chartPrepareResult, opts ChartPrepareOptions) error {
 	// NOTES:
 	// 1. `helm dep build` fails when it was run concurrency on the same chart.
 	//    To avoid that, we run `helm dep build` only once per each local chart.
@@ -1848,7 +1848,21 @@ func (st *HelmState) runHelmDepBuilds(helm helmexec.Interface, concurrency int,
 	//
 	//    See https://github.com/roboll/helmfile/issues/1521
 
+	// Perform an update of repos once before running `helm dep build` so that we
+	// can safely pass --skip-refresh to the command to avoid doing a repo update
+	// for every iteration of the loop where charts have external dependencies.
+	// Only do this if there are repositories configured.
+	if len(builds) > 0 && !opts.SkipRefresh && len(st.Repositories) > 0 {
+		if err := helm.UpdateRepo(); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("updating repo: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	for _, r := range builds {
+		// Never update the local repository cache here, since we've already
+		// updated it before entering the loop
+		r.skipRefresh = true
+
 		buildDepsFlags := getBuildDepsFlags(r)
 		if err := helm.BuildDeps(r.releaseName, r.chartPath, buildDepsFlags...); err != nil {
 			if r.chartFetchedByGoGetter {
diff --git a/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need/output.yaml b/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need/output.yaml
index 7954f3c1..46577aa7 100644
--- a/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need/output.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need/output.yaml
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 Adding repo myrepo http://localhost:18080/
 "myrepo" has been added to your repositories
 
-Building dependency release=foo, chart=$WD/temp1/foo
+Updating repo
 Hang tight while we grab the latest from your chart repositories...
 ...Successfully got an update from the "myrepo" chart repository
 Update Complete. ⎈Happy Helming!⎈
+
+Building dependency release=foo, chart=$WD/temp1/foo
 Saving 1 charts
 Downloading raw from repo http://localhost:18080/
 Deleting outdated charts
diff --git a/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need_enable_live_output/output.yaml b/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need_enable_live_output/output.yaml
index 67616a32..61f4dd37 100644
--- a/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need_enable_live_output/output.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/chart_need_enable_live_output/output.yaml
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ Live output is enabled
 Adding repo myrepo http://localhost:18081/
 "myrepo" has been added to your repositories
 
-Building dependency release=foo, chart=$WD/temp1/foo
+Updating repo
 Hang tight while we grab the latest from your chart repositories...
 ...Successfully got an update from the "myrepo" chart repository
 Update Complete. ⎈Happy Helming!⎈
+
+Building dependency release=foo, chart=$WD/temp1/foo
 Saving 1 charts
 Downloading raw from repo http://localhost:18081/
 Deleting outdated charts
diff --git a/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/release_template_inheritance/output.yaml b/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/release_template_inheritance/output.yaml
index 8f4523d9..3cf214c1 100644
--- a/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/release_template_inheritance/output.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/template/helmfile/testdata/snapshot/release_template_inheritance/output.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 Adding repo myrepo http://localhost:18084/
 "myrepo" has been added to your repositories
 
+Updating repo
+Hang tight while we grab the latest from your chart repositories...
+...Successfully got an update from the "myrepo" chart repository
+Update Complete. ⎈Happy Helming!⎈
+
 Building dependency release=foo1, chart=../../charts/raw-0.1.0
 Building dependency release=foo2, chart=../../charts/raw-0.1.0
 Templating release=foo1, chart=../../charts/raw-0.1.0
diff --git a/test/integration/test-cases/chart-needs.sh b/test/integration/test-cases/chart-needs.sh
index bbf91605..a50ceab1 100644
--- a/test/integration/test-cases/chart-needs.sh
+++ b/test/integration/test-cases/chart-needs.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ for i in $(seq 10); do
     info "Comparing lint/chart-needs #$i"
     # Remove azuredisk-csi-driver repo to ensure consistent output (repo addition message)
     ${helm} repo remove azuredisk-csi-driver &>/dev/null || true
-    ${helmfile} -f ${chart_need_case_input_dir}/${config_file} lint --include-needs | grep -v Linting | grep -v "has been removed" | grep -Ev "(Warning:.*is not a valid SemVerV2|\[WARNING\].*is not a valid SemVerV2|failed to load plugins)" > ${chart_needs_lint_reverse} || fail "\"helmfile lint\" shouldn't fail"
+    ${helmfile} -f ${chart_need_case_input_dir}/${config_file} lint --include-needs | grep -v Linting | grep -v "has been removed" | grep -Ev "(Updating repo|Hang tight while we grab|Update Complete|Successfully got an update from|Warning:.*is not a valid SemVerV2|\[WARNING\].*is not a valid SemVerV2|failed to load plugins)" > ${chart_needs_lint_reverse} || fail "\"helmfile lint\" shouldn't fail"
     diff -u ${lint_out_file} ${chart_needs_lint_reverse} || fail "\"helmfile lint\" should be consistent"
 done
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ for i in $(seq 10); do
     info "Comparing diff/chart-needs #$i"
     # Remove azuredisk-csi-driver repo to ensure consistent output (repo addition message)
     ${helm} repo remove azuredisk-csi-driver &>/dev/null || true
-    ${helmfile} -f ${chart_need_case_input_dir}/${config_file} diff --include-needs | grep -Ev "Comparing release=azuredisk-csi-storageclass, chart=.*/chartify.*/azuredisk-csi-storageclass" > ${chart_needs_diff_reverse}.tmp || fail "\"helmfile diff\" shouldn't fail"
+    ${helmfile} -f ${chart_need_case_input_dir}/${config_file} diff --include-needs | grep -Ev "(Updating repo|Hang tight while we grab|Update Complete|Successfully got an update from|Comparing release=azuredisk-csi-storageclass, chart=.*/chartify.*/azuredisk-csi-storageclass)" > ${chart_needs_diff_reverse}.tmp || fail "\"helmfile diff\" shouldn't fail"
     cat ${chart_needs_diff_reverse}.tmp | sed -E '/\*{20}/,/\*{20}/d' > ${chart_needs_diff_reverse}
 
     # With --enable-live-output, there's a race condition that can cause non-deterministic ordering