diff --git a/dist/bin-native-overrides/cli-common-platform.bat b/dist/bin-native-overrides/cli-common-platform.bat
index e0cfa40692b5..d1c4f1c4716b 100644
--- a/dist/bin-native-overrides/cli-common-platform.bat
+++ b/dist/bin-native-overrides/cli-common-platform.bat
@@ -12,7 +12,11 @@ FOR /F "usebackq delims=" %%G IN ("%_PROG_HOME%\EXTRA_PROPERTIES") DO (
   )
 )
 
+@REM we didn't find it, so we should fail
+echo "ERROR: cli_version not found in EXTRA_PROPERTIES file"
+exit /b 1
+
 :foundCliVersion
 endlocal & set "SCALA_CLI_VERSION=%_SCALA_CLI_VERSION%"
 
-set SCALA_CLI_CMD_WIN="%_PROG_HOME%\bin\scala-cli.exe" "--cli-version" "%SCALA_CLI_VERSION%"
\ No newline at end of file
+set SCALA_CLI_CMD_WIN="%_PROG_HOME%\bin\scala-cli.exe" "--cli-version" "%SCALA_CLI_VERSION%"
diff --git a/project/Build.scala b/project/Build.scala
index 3ce365fac9f1..b72715970fb1 100644
--- a/project/Build.scala
+++ b/project/Build.scala
@@ -2172,7 +2172,7 @@ object Build {
       republishBinOverrides += (dist / baseDirectory).value / "bin-native-overrides",
       republishFetchCoursier := (dist / republishFetchCoursier).value,
       republishExtraProps += ("cli_version" -> scalaCliLauncherVersion),
-      mappings += (republishRepo.value / "etc" / "EXTRA_PROPERTIES" -> "EXTRA_PROPERTIES"),
+      mappings += (republishRepo.value / "EXTRA_PROPERTIES" -> "EXTRA_PROPERTIES"),
       republishLaunchers +=
         ("scala-cli.exe" -> s"zip+https://github.com/VirtusLab/scala-cli/releases/download/v$scalaCliLauncherVersionWindows/scala-cli-x86_64-pc-win32.zip!/scala-cli.exe")
     )
diff --git a/project/RepublishPlugin.scala b/project/RepublishPlugin.scala
index 6ce83c2f0abf..a0a8ce7dae74 100644
--- a/project/RepublishPlugin.scala
+++ b/project/RepublishPlugin.scala
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ object RepublishPlugin extends AutoPlugin {
     val env = Map("COURSIER_CACHE" -> cache.getAbsolutePath.toString).asJava
     val cmdLine0 = Seq(javaCmd, "-jar", jar0)
     args =>
-      val cmdLine = cmdLine0 ++ args    
+      val cmdLine = cmdLine0 ++ args
       // invoke cmdLine with env, but also capture the output
       val p = new ProcessBuilder(cmdLine: _*)
         .directory(cache)
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ object RepublishPlugin extends AutoPlugin {
       }
       else {
         val repoDir = republishRepo.value
-        val propsFile = repoDir / "etc" / "EXTRA_PROPERTIES"
+        val propsFile = repoDir / "EXTRA_PROPERTIES"
         log.info(s"[republish] Writing extra properties to $propsFile...")
         Using.fileWriter()(propsFile) { writer =>
           extraProps.foreach { case (k, v) =>
@@ -485,6 +485,16 @@ object RepublishPlugin extends AutoPlugin {
         import java.util.Date
         val base: File = new File(".") // Using the working directory as base for readability
 
+        // Copy explicitly added dependencies
+        val mapped: Seq[(File, String)] = mappings.value
+        log.info("[republish] Copying explicit dependencies:")
+        val explicitDepsJars = for ((file, path) <- mapped) yield {
+          log.info(file.getPath)
+          val dest = distDir / path
+          IO.copyFile(file, dest, true)
+          dest
+        }
+
         def write(path: String, content: String) {
           val p = distDir / path
           IO.write(p, content)