diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index f8263498c4da..f8f4809825b3 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@ supported:
   be listed here, for security reasons. See
   [this issue](https://github.com/typeshed-internal/stub_uploader/issues/90)
   for more information about what external dependencies are allowed.
+* `optional-dependencies` (optional): A list of other stub packages or packages
+  with type information that are imported by some stubs in this package. This
+  is often used for packages that provide optional features that require extra
+  dependencies. The same limitations apply to this field as to `dependencies`.
 * `extra-description` (optional): Can be used to add a custom description to
   the package's long description. It should be a multi-line string in
   Markdown format.
@@ -204,7 +208,8 @@ This has the following keys:
   this field should be identical to `partial-stub`.
 * `stubtest-dependencies` (default: `[]`): A list of Python packages that need
   to be installed for stubtest to run successfully. These packages are installed
-  in addition to the dependencies in the `dependencies` field.
+  in addition to the dependencies in the `dependencies` and
+  `optional-dependencies` fields.
 * `apt-dependencies` (default: `[]`): A list of Ubuntu APT packages
   that need to be installed for stubtest to run successfully.
 * `brew-dependencies` (default: `[]`): A list of MacOS Homebrew packages
diff --git a/lib/ts_utils/metadata.py b/lib/ts_utils/metadata.py
index 4243129b64a7..0135077164ce 100644
--- a/lib/ts_utils/metadata.py
+++ b/lib/ts_utils/metadata.py
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ class StubMetadata:
     distribution: Annotated[str, "The name of the distribution on PyPI"]
     version_spec: Annotated[Specifier, "Upstream versions that the stubs are compatible with"]
     dependencies: Annotated[list[Requirement], "The parsed dependencies as listed in METADATA.toml"]
+    optional_dependencies: Annotated[list[Requirement], "The parsed optional dependencies as listed in METADATA.toml"]
     extra_description: str | None
     stub_distribution: Annotated[str, "The name under which the distribution is uploaded to PyPI"]
     upstream_repository: Annotated[str, "The URL of the upstream repository"] | None
@@ -189,11 +190,20 @@ class StubMetadata:
     def is_obsolete(self) -> bool:
         return self.obsolete is not None
 
+    @property
+    def all_dependencies(self) -> list[Requirement]:
+        """The dependencies and optional dependencies of this stubs package.
+
+        Does not include the stubtest dependencies.
+        """
+        return self.dependencies + self.optional_dependencies
+
 
 _KNOWN_METADATA_FIELDS: Final = frozenset(
     {
         "version",
         "dependencies",
+        "optional-dependencies",
         "extra-description",
         "stub-distribution",
         "upstream-repository",
@@ -264,6 +274,10 @@ def read_metadata(distribution: str) -> StubMetadata:
     assert isinstance(dependencies_s, list)
     dependencies = [parse_dependencies(distribution, dep) for dep in dependencies_s]
 
+    optional_dependencies_s = data.get("optional-dependencies", [])
+    assert isinstance(optional_dependencies_s, list)
+    optional_dependencies = [parse_dependencies(distribution, dep) for dep in optional_dependencies_s]
+
     extra_description = data.get("extra-description")
     assert isinstance(extra_description, (str, type(None)))
 
@@ -342,6 +356,7 @@ def read_metadata(distribution: str) -> StubMetadata:
         distribution=distribution,
         version_spec=version_spec,
         dependencies=dependencies,
+        optional_dependencies=optional_dependencies,
         extra_description=extra_description,
         stub_distribution=stub_distribution,
         upstream_repository=upstream_repository,
@@ -411,7 +426,7 @@ def read_dependencies(distribution: str) -> PackageDependencies:
     pypi_name_to_typeshed_name_mapping = get_pypi_name_to_typeshed_name_mapping()
     typeshed: list[Requirement] = []
     external: list[Requirement] = []
-    for dependency in read_metadata(distribution).dependencies:
+    for dependency in read_metadata(distribution).all_dependencies:
         if dependency.name in pypi_name_to_typeshed_name_mapping:
             req = Requirement(str(dependency))  # copy the requirement
             req.name = pypi_name_to_typeshed_name_mapping[dependency.name]