3 files changed, 6 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
index 3a0cae041..3b87f48ea 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/interpreter.py
@@ -3559,7 +3559,7 @@ class Interpreter(InterpreterBase, HoldableObject):
         for l in target.compilers.keys():
             dep = self.build.stdlibs[target.for_machine].get(l, None)
             if dep:
-                target.add_deps(dep)
+                target.add_deps([dep])
 
     def check_sources_exist(self, subdir, sources):
         for s in sources:
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
index c08ceb759..1dee9a65c 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/kwargs.py
@@ -337,6 +337,7 @@ class _BaseBuildTarget(TypedDict):
 
     build_by_default: bool
     build_rpath: str
+    dependencies: T.List[Dependency]
     extra_files: T.List[FileOrString]
     gnu_symbol_visibility: str
     include_directories: T.List[build.IncludeDirs]
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
index 478924828..7515cbcef 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter/type_checking.py
@@ -426,6 +426,9 @@ DEPENDENCIES_KW: KwargInfo[T.List[Dependency]] = KwargInfo(
     ContainerTypeInfo(list, (Dependency, InternalDependency)),
     listify=True,
     default=[],
+    extra_types={
+        BuildTarget: lambda arg: f'Tried to use a build_target "{T.cast("BuildTarget", arg).name}" as a dependency. This should be in `link_with` or `link_whole` instead.',
+    },
 )
 
 D_MODULE_VERSIONS_KW: KwargInfo[T.List[T.Union[str, int]]] = KwargInfo(
@@ -721,6 +724,7 @@ _BUILD_TARGET_KWS: T.List[KwargInfo] = [
     *_LANGUAGE_KWS,
     BT_SOURCES_KW,
     INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.evolve(since_values={ContainerTypeInfo(list, str): '0.50.0'}),
+    DEPENDENCIES_KW,
     INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.evolve(name='d_import_dirs'),
     _NAME_PREFIX_KW,
     _NAME_PREFIX_KW.evolve(name='name_suffix', validator=_name_suffix_validator),