diff --git a/apps/files_external/appinfo/info.xml b/apps/files_external/appinfo/info.xml
index 84c31dfd0cac6..bc2786cc3b485 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/appinfo/info.xml
+++ b/apps/files_external/appinfo/info.xml
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ External storage can be configured using the GUI or at the command line. This se
 		<command>OCA\Files_External\Command\Verify</command>
 		<command>OCA\Files_External\Command\Notify</command>
 		<command>OCA\Files_External\Command\Scan</command>
+		<command>OCA\Files_External\Command\Dependencies</command>
 	</commands>
 
 	<settings>
diff --git a/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php b/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php
index 156847d56200b..589b70a078b05 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Config' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/Config.php',
     'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Create' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/Create.php',
     'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Delete' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/Delete.php',
+    'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Dependencies' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/Dependencies.php',
     'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Export' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/Export.php',
     'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Import' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/Import.php',
     'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\ListCommand' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Command/ListCommand.php',
diff --git a/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_static.php b/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_static.php
index 186f85bc5bc55..0399f47685c8a 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_static.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/composer/composer/autoload_static.php
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ class ComposerStaticInitFiles_External
         'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Config' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/Config.php',
         'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Create' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/Create.php',
         'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Delete' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/Delete.php',
+        'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Dependencies' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/Dependencies.php',
         'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Export' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/Export.php',
         'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\Import' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/Import.php',
         'OCA\\Files_External\\Command\\ListCommand' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Command/ListCommand.php',
diff --git a/apps/files_external/lib/Command/Dependencies.php b/apps/files_external/lib/Command/Dependencies.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1bb5777812912
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/files_external/lib/Command/Dependencies.php
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025 Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
+ */
+namespace OCA\Files_External\Command;
+
+use OC\Core\Command\Base;
+use OCA\Files_External\Service\BackendService;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+
+class Dependencies extends Base {
+	public function __construct(
+		private readonly BackendService $backendService,
+	) {
+		parent::__construct();
+	}
+
+	protected function configure(): void {
+		$this
+			->setName('files_external:dependencies')
+			->setDescription('Show information about the backend dependencies');
+		parent::configure();
+	}
+
+	protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output): int {
+		$storageBackends = $this->backendService->getBackends();
+
+		$anyMissing = false;
+
+		foreach ($storageBackends as $backend) {
+			if ($backend->getDeprecateTo() !== null) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			$missingDependencies = $backend->checkDependencies();
+			if ($missingDependencies) {
+				$anyMissing = true;
+				$output->writeln($backend->getText() . ':');
+				foreach ($missingDependencies as $missingDependency) {
+					if ($missingDependency->getMessage()) {
+						$output->writeln(" - <comment>{$missingDependency->getDependency()}</comment>: {$missingDependency->getMessage()}");
+					} else {
+						$output->writeln(" - <comment>{$missingDependency->getDependency()}</comment>");
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (!$anyMissing) {
+			$output->writeln('<info>All dependencies are met</info>');
+		}
+
+		return self::SUCCESS;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/Backend/SMB.php b/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/Backend/SMB.php
index b246b0638f007..3549f69cbe314 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/Backend/SMB.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/Backend/SMB.php
@@ -10,19 +10,20 @@
 use Icewind\SMB\BasicAuth;
 use Icewind\SMB\KerberosApacheAuth;
 use Icewind\SMB\KerberosAuth;
+use Icewind\SMB\Native\NativeServer;
+use Icewind\SMB\Wrapped\Server;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Auth\AuthMechanism;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Auth\Password\Password;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Auth\SMB\KerberosApacheAuth as KerberosApacheAuthMechanism;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\DefinitionParameter;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\InsufficientDataForMeaningfulAnswerException;
-use OCA\Files_External\Lib\LegacyDependencyCheckPolyfill;
+use OCA\Files_External\Lib\MissingDependency;
+use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Storage\SystemBridge;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\StorageConfig;
 use OCP\IL10N;
 use OCP\IUser;
 
 class SMB extends Backend {
-	use LegacyDependencyCheckPolyfill;
-
 	public function __construct(IL10N $l, Password $legacyAuth) {
 		$this
 			->setIdentifier('smb')
@@ -122,4 +123,20 @@ public function manipulateStorageConfig(StorageConfig &$storage, ?IUser $user =
 
 		$storage->setBackendOption('auth', $smbAuth);
 	}
+
+	public function checkDependencies() {
+		$system = \OCP\Server::get(SystemBridge::class);
+		if (NativeServer::available($system)) {
+			return [];
+		} elseif (Server::available($system)) {
+			$missing = new MissingDependency('php-smbclient');
+			$missing->setOptional(true);
+			$missing->setMessage('The php-smbclient library provides improved compatibility and performance for SMB storages.');
+			return [$missing];
+		} else {
+			$missing = new MissingDependency('php-smbclient');
+			$missing->setMessage('Either the php-smbclient library (preferred) or the smbclient binary is required for SMB storages.');
+			return [$missing, new MissingDependency('smbclient')];
+		}
+	}
 }
diff --git a/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/MissingDependency.php b/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/MissingDependency.php
index 5c2c6880f23d2..da4cbb1de4610 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/MissingDependency.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/lib/Lib/MissingDependency.php
@@ -12,13 +12,14 @@
 class MissingDependency {
 
 	/** @var string|null Custom message */
-	private $message = null;
+	private ?string $message = null;
+	private bool $optional = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * @param string $dependency
 	 */
 	public function __construct(
-		private $dependency,
+		private readonly string $dependency,
 	) {
 	}
 
@@ -38,4 +39,12 @@ public function setMessage($message) {
 		$this->message = $message;
 		return $this;
 	}
+
+	public function isOptional(): bool {
+		return $this->optional;
+	}
+
+	public function setOptional(bool $optional): void {
+		$this->optional = $optional;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/apps/files_external/lib/Service/BackendService.php b/apps/files_external/lib/Service/BackendService.php
index e37a0ab464965..c0c7118648d4f 100644
--- a/apps/files_external/lib/Service/BackendService.php
+++ b/apps/files_external/lib/Service/BackendService.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Backend\Backend;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Config\IAuthMechanismProvider;
 use OCA\Files_External\Lib\Config\IBackendProvider;
+use OCA\Files_External\Lib\MissingDependency;
 use OCP\EventDispatcher\GenericEvent;
 use OCP\EventDispatcher\IEventDispatcher;
 use OCP\IConfig;
@@ -193,7 +194,8 @@ public function getBackends() {
 	 */
 	public function getAvailableBackends() {
 		return array_filter($this->getBackends(), function ($backend) {
-			return !$backend->checkDependencies();
+			$missing = array_filter($backend->checkDependencies(), fn (MissingDependency $dependency) => !$dependency->isOptional());
+			return count($missing) === 0;
 		});
 	}