diff --git a/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs.go b/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs.go
index ff2c5f963cd..e30a40c97e8 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs.go
@@ -492,6 +492,41 @@ List:
 		downgraded = append(downgraded, r)
 	}
 
+	// The downgrades we computed above only downgrade to versions enumerated by
+	// reqs.Previous. However, reqs.Previous omits some versions — such as
+	// pseudo-versions and retracted versions — that may be selected as transitive
+	// requirements of other modules.
+	//
+	// If one of those requirements pulls the version back up above the version
+	// identified by reqs.Previous, then the transitive dependencies of that that
+	// initially-downgraded version should no longer matter — in particular, we
+	// should not add new dependencies on module paths that nothing else in the
+	// updated module graph even requires.
+	//
+	// In order to eliminate those spurious dependencies, we recompute the build
+	// list with the actual versions of the downgraded modules as selected by MVS,
+	// instead of our initial downgrades.
+	// (See the downhiddenartifact and downhiddencross test cases).
+	actual, err := BuildList(target, &override{
+		target: target,
+		list:   downgraded,
+		Reqs:   reqs,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	actualVersion := make(map[string]string, len(actual))
+	for _, m := range actual {
+		actualVersion[m.Path] = m.Version
+	}
+
+	downgraded = downgraded[:0]
+	for _, m := range list {
+		if v, ok := actualVersion[m.Path]; ok {
+			downgraded = append(downgraded, module.Version{Path: m.Path, Version: v})
+		}
+	}
+
 	return BuildList(target, &override{
 		target: target,
 		list:   downgraded,
diff --git a/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs_test.go b/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs_test.go
index 661f68be084..598ed666889 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs_test.go
+++ b/src/cmd/go/internal/mvs/mvs_test.go
@@ -282,8 +282,9 @@ downgrade A B1: A B1
 # And C1 requires B2.hidden, and B2.hidden also meets our requirements:
 # it is compatible with D1 and a strict downgrade from B3.
 #
-# BUG(?): B2.hidden does not require E1, so there is no need for E1
-# to appear in the final build list. Nonetheless, there it is.
+# Since neither the initial nor the final build list includes B1,
+# and the nothing in the final downgraded build list requires E at all,
+# no dependency on E1 (required by only B1) should be introduced.
 #
 name: downhiddenartifact
 A: B3 C2
@@ -298,7 +299,7 @@ D2:
 build A1: A1 B3 D2
 downgrade A1 D1: A1 B1 D1 E1
 build A: A B3 C2 D2
-downgrade A D1: A B2.hidden C1 D1 E1
+downgrade A D1: A B2.hidden C1 D1
 
 # Both B3 and C3 require D2.
 # If we downgrade D to D1, then in isolation B3 would downgrade to B1,
diff --git a/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/mod_get_downup_pseudo_artifact.txt b/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/mod_get_downup_pseudo_artifact.txt
index d773f6bd4dd..c49615cecb3 100644
--- a/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/mod_get_downup_pseudo_artifact.txt
+++ b/src/cmd/go/testdata/script/mod_get_downup_pseudo_artifact.txt
@@ -26,18 +26,15 @@ cp go.mod go.mod.orig
 go mod tidy
 cmp go.mod.orig go.mod
 
+# When we downgrade d.2 to d.1, no dependency on e should be added
+# because nothing else in the module or import graph requires it.
 go get -d example.net/d@v0.1.0
 
 go list -m all
 stdout '^example.net/b v0.2.1-0.20210219000000-000000000000 '
 stdout '^example.net/c v0.1.0 '
 stdout '^example.net/d v0.1.0 '
-
-	# BUG: A dependency on e is added even though nothing requires it.
-stdout '^example.net/e '
-
-go mod why -m example.net/e
-stdout '^\(main module does not need module example.net/e\)'
+! stdout '^example.net/e '
 
 -- go.mod --
 module example.net/a