diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/cmdline/Label.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/cmdline/Label.java
index e8e1c062e485b8..d7d4afcadba055 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/cmdline/Label.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/cmdline/Label.java
@@ -96,9 +96,7 @@ public final class Label implements Comparable<Label>, StarlarkValue, SkyKey, Co
           // Used for select's `//conditions:default` label (not a target)
           "conditions",
           // Used for the public and private visibility labels (not targets)
-          "visibility",
-          // There is only one //external package
-          LabelConstants.EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_NAME.getPathString());
+          "visibility");
 
   // Intern "__pkg__" and "__subpackages__" pseudo-targets, which appears in labels used for
   // visibility specifications. This saves a couple tenths of a percent of RAM off the loading
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ProcessPackageDirectory.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ProcessPackageDirectory.java
index aa8d1383ab2cf2..6be0d0de013cc4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ProcessPackageDirectory.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/ProcessPackageDirectory.java
@@ -282,9 +282,11 @@ private Iterable<SkyKey> getSubdirDeps(
       }
       String basename = dirent.getName();
       PathFragment subdirectory = rootRelativePath.getRelative(basename);
-      if (!siblingRepositoryLayout && subdirectory.equals(LabelConstants.EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_NAME)) {
-        // Subpackages under //external can be processed only when
-        // --experimental_sibling_repository_layout is set.
+      if (!siblingRepositoryLayout
+          && repositoryName.isMain()
+          && subdirectory.equals(LabelConstants.EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_NAME)) {
+        // Subpackages under //external in the main repo can be processed only
+        // when --experimental_sibling_repository_layout is set.
         continue;
       }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/util/BuildViewTestCase.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/util/BuildViewTestCase.java
index de828851414686..d9a617b04c9709 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/util/BuildViewTestCase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/util/BuildViewTestCase.java
@@ -108,7 +108,6 @@
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.bazel.bzlmod.ModuleFileFunction;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.clock.BlazeClock;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.cmdline.Label;
-import com.google.devtools.build.lib.cmdline.LabelConstants;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.cmdline.LabelSyntaxException;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.cmdline.PackageIdentifier;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.cmdline.RepositoryMapping;
@@ -1278,12 +1277,7 @@ protected Rule scratchRule(String packageName, String ruleName, String... lines)
       throws Exception {
     // Allow to create the BUILD file also in the top package.
     String buildFilePathString = packageName.isEmpty() ? "BUILD" : packageName + "/BUILD";
-    if (packageName.equals(LabelConstants.EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_NAME.getPathString())) {
-      buildFilePathString = "WORKSPACE";
-      scratch.overwriteFile(buildFilePathString, lines);
-    } else {
-      scratch.file(buildFilePathString, lines);
-    }
+    scratch.file(buildFilePathString, lines);
     skyframeExecutor.invalidateFilesUnderPathForTesting(
         reporter,
         new ModifiedFileSet.Builder().modify(PathFragment.create(buildFilePathString)).build(),