diff --git a/cmd/dependencyverifier/dependencyverifier.go b/cmd/dependencyverifier/dependencyverifier.go
index 54df5053f50..02801b1afb6 100644
--- a/cmd/dependencyverifier/dependencyverifier.go
+++ b/cmd/dependencyverifier/dependencyverifier.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -45,6 +46,8 @@ type UnwantedStatus struct {
 	// references to modules in the spec.unwantedModules list, based on `go mod graph` content.
 	// eliminating things from this list is good, and sometimes requires working with upstreams to do so.
 	UnwantedReferences map[string][]string `json:"unwantedReferences"`
+	// list of modules in the spec.unwantedModules list which are vendored
+	UnwantedVendored []string `json:"unwantedVendored"`
 }
 
 // runCommand runs the cmd and returns the combined stdout and stderr, or an
@@ -272,6 +275,25 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	vendorModulesTxt, err := ioutil.ReadFile("vendor/modules.txt")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	vendoredModules := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, l := range strings.Split(string(vendorModulesTxt), "\n") {
+		parts := strings.Split(l, " ")
+		if len(parts) == 3 && parts[0] == "#" && strings.HasPrefix(parts[2], "v") {
+			vendoredModules[parts[1]] = true
+		}
+	}
+	config.Status.UnwantedVendored = []string{}
+	for unwanted := range configFromFile.Spec.UnwantedModules {
+		if vendoredModules[unwanted] {
+			config.Status.UnwantedVendored = append(config.Status.UnwantedVendored, unwanted)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(config.Status.UnwantedVendored)
+
 	needUpdate := false
 
 	// Compare unwanted list from unwanted-dependencies.json with current status from `go mod graph`
@@ -286,7 +308,8 @@ func main() {
 	if !bytes.Equal(expected, actual) {
 		log.Printf("Expected status of\n%s", string(expected))
 		log.Printf("Got status of\n%s", string(actual))
-		log.Fatal("Status diff:\n", cmp.Diff(expected, actual))
+		needUpdate = true
+		log.Print("Status diff:\n", cmp.Diff(expected, actual))
 	}
 	for expectedRef, expectedFrom := range configFromFile.Status.UnwantedReferences {
 		actualFrom, ok := config.Status.UnwantedReferences[expectedRef]
@@ -327,6 +350,18 @@ func main() {
 		needUpdate = true
 	}
 
+	removedVendored, addedVendored := difference(configFromFile.Status.UnwantedVendored, config.Status.UnwantedVendored)
+	if len(removedVendored) > 0 {
+		log.Printf("Good news! Unwanted modules are no longer vendered: %q", removedVendored)
+		log.Printf("!!! Remove those from status.unwantedVendored in %s to ensure they don't get reintroduced.", dependenciesJSONPath)
+		needUpdate = true
+	}
+	if len(addedVendored) > 0 {
+		log.Printf("Unwanted modules are newly vendored: %q", addedVendored)
+		log.Printf("!!! Avoid updates that increase vendoring of unwanted dependencies\n")
+		needUpdate = true
+	}
+
 	if needUpdate {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
diff --git a/hack/unwanted-dependencies.json b/hack/unwanted-dependencies.json
index 96fbfa416a0..f04d53fa491 100644
--- a/hack/unwanted-dependencies.json
+++ b/hack/unwanted-dependencies.json
@@ -236,6 +236,25 @@
         "google.golang.org/grpc",
         "sigs.k8s.io/apiserver-network-proxy/konnectivity-client"
       ]
-    }
+    },
+    "unwantedVendored": [
+      "cloud.google.com/go/compute",
+      "github.com/gogo/protobuf",
+      "github.com/golang/mock",
+      "github.com/google/shlex",
+      "github.com/googleapis/enterprise-certificate-proxy",
+      "github.com/googleapis/gax-go/v2",
+      "github.com/gregjones/httpcache",
+      "github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-prometheus",
+      "github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-gateway",
+      "github.com/json-iterator/go",
+      "github.com/pkg/errors",
+      "github.com/rubiojr/go-vhd",
+      "go.opencensus.io",
+      "golang.org/x/exp",
+      "google.golang.org/api",
+      "google.golang.org/appengine",
+      "google.golang.org/genproto"
+    ]
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file