diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_builder.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_builder.dart
index 0e9a9b8327a..caf48038613 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_builder.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_builder.dart
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ abstract class AndroidBuilder {
     required FlutterProject project,
     required AndroidBuildInfo androidBuildInfo,
     required String target,
+    bool configOnly = false,
   });
 
   /// Builds an App Bundle artifact.
@@ -36,5 +37,6 @@ abstract class AndroidBuilder {
     required String target,
     bool validateDeferredComponents = true,
     bool deferredComponentsEnabled = false,
+    bool configOnly = false,
   });
 }
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/gradle.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/gradle.dart
index 012a1646339..b0426c95519 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/gradle.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/gradle.dart
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
     required FlutterProject project,
     required AndroidBuildInfo androidBuildInfo,
     required String target,
+    bool configOnly = false,
   }) async {
     await buildGradleApp(
       project: project,
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
       target: target,
       isBuildingBundle: false,
       localGradleErrors: gradleErrors,
+      configOnly: configOnly,
     );
   }
 
@@ -199,6 +201,7 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
     required String target,
     bool validateDeferredComponents = true,
     bool deferredComponentsEnabled = false,
+    bool configOnly = false,
   }) async {
     await buildGradleApp(
       project: project,
@@ -208,6 +211,7 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
       localGradleErrors: gradleErrors,
       validateDeferredComponents: validateDeferredComponents,
       deferredComponentsEnabled: deferredComponentsEnabled,
+      configOnly: configOnly,
     );
   }
 
@@ -225,6 +229,7 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
     required String target,
     required bool isBuildingBundle,
     required List<GradleHandledError> localGradleErrors,
+    required bool configOnly,
     bool validateDeferredComponents = true,
     bool deferredComponentsEnabled = false,
     int retry = 0,
@@ -249,8 +254,22 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
     }
     // The default Gradle script reads the version name and number
     // from the local.properties file.
-    updateLocalProperties(project: project, buildInfo: androidBuildInfo.buildInfo);
+    updateLocalProperties(
+        project: project, buildInfo: androidBuildInfo.buildInfo);
 
+    final List<String> command = <String>[
+      // This does more than get gradlewrapper. It creates the file, ensures it
+      // exists and verifies the file is executable.
+      _gradleUtils.getExecutable(project),
+    ];
+
+    // All automatically created files should exist.
+    if (configOnly) {
+      _logger.printStatus('Config complete.');
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // Assembly work starts here.
     final BuildInfo buildInfo = androidBuildInfo.buildInfo;
     final String assembleTask = isBuildingBundle
         ? getBundleTaskFor(buildInfo)
@@ -260,9 +279,6 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
       "Running Gradle task '$assembleTask'...",
     );
 
-    final List<String> command = <String>[
-      _gradleUtils.getExecutable(project),
-    ];
     if (_logger.isVerbose) {
       command.add('--full-stacktrace');
       command.add('--info');
@@ -428,6 +444,7 @@ class AndroidGradleBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
               localGradleErrors: localGradleErrors,
               retry: retry,
               maxRetries: maxRetries,
+              configOnly: configOnly,
             );
             final String successEventLabel = 'gradle-${detectedGradleError!.eventLabel}-success';
             BuildEvent(successEventLabel, type: 'gradle', flutterUsage: _usage).send();
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_apk.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_apk.dart
index 946d790485f..7402169814c 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_apk.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/build_apk.dart
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ class BuildApkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
         help: 'Whether to split the APKs per ABIs. '
               'To learn more, see: https://developer.android.com/studio/build/configure-apk-splits#configure-abi-split',
       )
+      ..addFlag('config-only',
+          help: 'Generate build files used by flutter but '
+                'do not build any artifacts.')
       ..addMultiOption('target-platform',
         defaultsTo: <String>['android-arm', 'android-arm64', 'android-x64'],
         allowed: <String>['android-arm', 'android-arm64', 'android-x86', 'android-x64'],
@@ -57,6 +60,8 @@ class BuildApkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
   @override
   DeprecationBehavior get deprecationBehavior => boolArgDeprecated('ignore-deprecation') ? DeprecationBehavior.ignore : DeprecationBehavior.exit;
 
+  bool get configOnly => boolArg('config-only') ?? false;
+
   @override
   Future<Set<DevelopmentArtifact>> get requiredArtifacts async => <DevelopmentArtifact>{
     DevelopmentArtifact.androidGenSnapshot,
@@ -112,6 +117,7 @@ class BuildApkCommand extends BuildSubCommand {
       project: FlutterProject.current(),
       target: targetFile,
       androidBuildInfo: androidBuildInfo,
+      configOnly: configOnly,
     );
     return FlutterCommandResult.success();
   }
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_gradle_builder_test.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_gradle_builder_test.dart
index 1e358bcd6cc..54c4268e1e5 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_gradle_builder_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_gradle_builder_test.dart
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: <GradleHandledError>[
             GradleHandledError(
               test: (String line) {
@@ -187,6 +188,7 @@ void main() {
         ),
         target: 'lib/main.dart',
         isBuildingBundle: false,
+        configOnly: false,
         localGradleErrors: <GradleHandledError>[],
       );
       expect(processManager, hasNoRemainingExpectations);
@@ -256,6 +258,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: <GradleHandledError>[
             GradleHandledError(
               test: (String line) {
@@ -350,6 +353,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: <GradleHandledError>[
             GradleHandledError(
               test: (String line) {
@@ -441,6 +445,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
         );
       }, throwsProcessException());
@@ -520,6 +525,7 @@ void main() {
         ),
         target: 'lib/main.dart',
         isBuildingBundle: false,
+        configOnly: false,
         localGradleErrors: <GradleHandledError>[
           GradleHandledError(
             test: (String line) {
@@ -636,6 +642,7 @@ void main() {
         ),
         target: 'lib/main.dart',
         isBuildingBundle: false,
+        configOnly: false,
         localGradleErrors: <GradleHandledError>[],
       );
 
@@ -704,6 +711,7 @@ void main() {
         ),
         target: 'lib/main.dart',
         isBuildingBundle: false,
+        configOnly: false,
         localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
       );
 
@@ -963,6 +971,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
         );
       }, throwsToolExit());
@@ -1039,6 +1048,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
         );
       }, throwsToolExit());
@@ -1115,6 +1125,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
         );
       }, throwsToolExit());
@@ -1192,6 +1203,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
         );
       }, throwsToolExit());
@@ -1250,6 +1262,7 @@ void main() {
           ),
           target: 'lib/main.dart',
           isBuildingBundle: false,
+          configOnly: false,
           localGradleErrors: const <GradleHandledError>[],
         );
       }, throwsToolExit());
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/flutter_build_config_only_test.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/flutter_build_config_only_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..55d793056b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/test/integration.shard/flutter_build_config_only_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+// Copyright 2014 The Flutter Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+import 'package:file_testing/file_testing.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_tools/src/base/file_system.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_tools/src/base/io.dart';
+
+import '../src/common.dart';
+import 'test_utils.dart';
+
+// Test that configOnly creates the gradlew file and does not assemble and app.
+void main() {
+  late Directory tempDir;
+  late String flutterBin;
+  late Directory exampleAppDir;
+
+  setUp(() async {
+    tempDir = createResolvedTempDirectorySync('flutter_build_test.');
+    flutterBin = fileSystem.path.join(
+      getFlutterRoot(),
+      'bin',
+      'flutter',
+    );
+    exampleAppDir = tempDir.childDirectory('bbb').childDirectory('example');
+
+    processManager.runSync(<String>[
+      flutterBin,
+      ...getLocalEngineArguments(),
+      'create',
+      '--template=plugin',
+      '--platforms=android',
+      'bbb',
+    ], workingDirectory: tempDir.path);
+  });
+
+  tearDown(() async {
+    tryToDelete(tempDir);
+  });
+
+  test(
+    'flutter build apk --config-only should create gradlew and not assemble',
+    () async {
+      final File gradleFile = fileSystem
+          .directory(exampleAppDir)
+          .childDirectory('android')
+          .childFile(platform.isWindows ? 'gradlew.bat' : 'gradlew');
+      // Ensure file is gone prior to configOnly running.
+      await gradleFile.delete();
+
+      final ProcessResult result = processManager.runSync(<String>[
+        flutterBin,
+        ...getLocalEngineArguments(),
+        'build',
+        'apk',
+        '--target-platform=android-arm',
+        '--config-only',
+      ], workingDirectory: exampleAppDir.path);
+
+      expect(gradleFile, exists);
+      expect(result.stdout, contains(RegExp(r'Config complete')));
+      expect(result.stdout, isNot(contains(RegExp(r'Running Gradle task'))));
+    },
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/test/src/android_common.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/test/src/android_common.dart
index cab436d610f..6003432d9f1 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/test/src/android_common.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/test/src/android_common.dart
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ class FakeAndroidBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
     required FlutterProject project,
     required AndroidBuildInfo androidBuildInfo,
     required String target,
+    bool configOnly = false,
   }) async {}
 
   @override
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ class FakeAndroidBuilder implements AndroidBuilder {
     required String target,
     bool validateDeferredComponents = true,
     bool deferredComponentsEnabled = false,
+    bool configOnly = false,
   }) async {}
 }