diff --git a/command/hcl2_upgrade.go b/command/hcl2_upgrade.go
index 8295e4e8ae0..3393ee86bad 100644
--- a/command/hcl2_upgrade.go
+++ b/command/hcl2_upgrade.go
@@ -29,42 +29,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/zclconf/go-cty/cty"
 )
 
-type HCL2UpgradeCommand struct {
-	Meta
-}
-
-func (c *HCL2UpgradeCommand) Run(args []string) int {
-	ctx, cleanup := handleTermInterrupt(c.Ui)
-	defer cleanup()
-
-	cfg, ret := c.ParseArgs(args)
-	if ret != 0 {
-		return ret
-	}
-
-	return c.RunContext(ctx, cfg)
-}
-
-func (c *HCL2UpgradeCommand) ParseArgs(args []string) (*HCL2UpgradeArgs, int) {
-	var cfg HCL2UpgradeArgs
-	flags := c.Meta.FlagSet("hcl2_upgrade")
-	flags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Say(c.Help()) }
-	cfg.AddFlagSets(flags)
-	if err := flags.Parse(args); err != nil {
-		return &cfg, 1
-	}
-	args = flags.Args()
-	if len(args) != 1 {
-		flags.Usage()
-		return &cfg, 1
-	}
-	cfg.Path = args[0]
-	if cfg.OutputFile == "" {
-		cfg.OutputFile = cfg.Path + ".pkr.hcl"
-	}
-	return &cfg, 0
-}
-
 const (
 	hcl2UpgradeFileHeader = `# This file was autogenerated by the 'packer hcl2_upgrade' command. We
 # recommend double checking that everything is correct before going forward. We
@@ -130,6 +94,59 @@ var (
 	strftime                = false
 )
 
+// knownPlugins represent the HashiCorp maintained plugins the we can confidently
+// construct a required plugins block for.
+var knownPlugins = map[string]string{
+	"amazon":        "github.com/hashicorp/amazon",
+	"ansible":       "github.com/hashicorp/ansible",
+	"azure":         "github.com/hashicorp/azure",
+	"docker":        "github.com/hashicorp/docker",
+	"googlecompute": "github.com/hashicorp/googlecompute",
+	"qemu":          "github.com/hashicorp/qemu",
+	"vagrant":       "github.com/hashicorp/vagrant",
+	"vmware":        "github.com/hashicorp/vmware",
+	"vsphere":       "github.com/hashicorp/vsphere",
+}
+
+// unknownPluginName represents any plugin not in knownPlugins or bundled into Packer
+const unknownPluginName string = "unknown"
+
+type HCL2UpgradeCommand struct {
+	Meta
+}
+
+func (c *HCL2UpgradeCommand) Run(args []string) int {
+	ctx, cleanup := handleTermInterrupt(c.Ui)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	cfg, ret := c.ParseArgs(args)
+	if ret != 0 {
+		return ret
+	}
+
+	return c.RunContext(ctx, cfg)
+}
+
+func (c *HCL2UpgradeCommand) ParseArgs(args []string) (*HCL2UpgradeArgs, int) {
+	var cfg HCL2UpgradeArgs
+	flags := c.Meta.FlagSet("hcl2_upgrade")
+	flags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Say(c.Help()) }
+	cfg.AddFlagSets(flags)
+	if err := flags.Parse(args); err != nil {
+		return &cfg, 1
+	}
+	args = flags.Args()
+	if len(args) != 1 {
+		flags.Usage()
+		return &cfg, 1
+	}
+	cfg.Path = args[0]
+	if cfg.OutputFile == "" {
+		cfg.OutputFile = cfg.Path + ".pkr.hcl"
+	}
+	return &cfg, 0
+}
+
 type BlockParser interface {
 	Parse(*template.Template) error
 	Write(*bytes.Buffer)
@@ -169,7 +186,6 @@ func (c *HCL2UpgradeCommand) RunContext(_ context.Context, cla *HCL2UpgradeArgs)
 	tpl := core.Template
 
 	// Parse blocks
-
 	packerBlock := &PackerParser{
 		WithAnnotations: cla.WithAnnotations,
 	}
@@ -827,28 +843,28 @@ func gatherPluginsFromTemplate(tpl *template.Template) []string {
 	plugins := map[string]struct{}{}
 
 	for _, b := range tpl.Builders {
-		for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-			if strings.HasPrefix(b.Type, prefix) {
-				plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-			}
+		name := knownPluginComponent(b.Type)
+		if name == unknownPluginName {
+			continue
 		}
+		plugins[knownPlugins[name]] = struct{}{}
 	}
 
 	for _, p := range tpl.Provisioners {
-		for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-			if strings.HasPrefix(p.Type, prefix) {
-				plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-			}
+		name := knownPluginComponent(p.Type)
+		if name == unknownPluginName {
+			continue
 		}
+		plugins[knownPlugins[name]] = struct{}{}
 	}
 
 	for _, pps := range tpl.PostProcessors {
 		for _, pp := range pps {
-			for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-				if strings.HasPrefix(pp.Type, prefix) {
-					plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-				}
+			name := knownPluginComponent(pp.Type)
+			if name == unknownPluginName {
+				continue
 			}
+			plugins[knownPlugins[name]] = struct{}{}
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1182,18 +1198,17 @@ type SourceParser struct {
 }
 
 func (p *SourceParser) Parse(tpl *template.Template) error {
-	var unknownBuilders []string
 	if p.out == nil {
 		p.out = []byte{}
 	}
+
+	var unknownBuilders []string
 	for i, builderCfg := range p.Builders {
 		sourcesContent := hclwrite.NewEmptyFile()
 		body := sourcesContent.Body()
-
 		body.AppendNewline()
-		if !p.BuilderPlugins.Has(builderCfg.Type) {
+		if !p.BuilderPlugins.Has(builderCfg.Type) && knownPluginComponent(builderCfg.Type) == unknownPluginName {
 			unknownBuilders = append(unknownBuilders, builderCfg.Type)
-
 		}
 		if builderCfg.Name == "" || builderCfg.Name == builderCfg.Type {
 			builderCfg.Name = fmt.Sprintf("autogenerated_%d", i+1)
@@ -1206,9 +1221,11 @@ func (p *SourceParser) Parse(tpl *template.Template) error {
 
 		p.out = append(p.out, transposeTemplatingCalls(sourcesContent.Bytes())...)
 	}
+	// TODO update to output to stderr as opposed to having the command exit 1
 	if len(unknownBuilders) > 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unknown builder type(s): %v\n", unknownBuilders)
 	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -1412,3 +1429,12 @@ func fixQuoting(old string) string {
 
 	return string(body)
 }
+
+func knownPluginComponent(component string) string {
+	for prefix := range knownPlugins {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(component, prefix) {
+			return prefix
+		}
+	}
+	return unknownPluginName
+}
diff --git a/command/hcl2_upgrade_test.go b/command/hcl2_upgrade_test.go
index 487d99999cb..9a3833f909e 100644
--- a/command/hcl2_upgrade_test.go
+++ b/command/hcl2_upgrade_test.go
@@ -19,22 +19,22 @@ func Test_hcl2_upgrade(t *testing.T) {
 		exitCode  int
 		exitEarly bool
 	}{
-		{folder: "unknown_builder", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 1},
-		{folder: "complete", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}},
-		{folder: "without-annotations", flags: []string{}},
-		{folder: "minimal", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}},
-		{folder: "source-name", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}},
-		{folder: "error-cleanup-provisioner", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}},
-		{folder: "aws-access-config", flags: []string{}},
-		{folder: "escaping", flags: []string{}},
-		{folder: "vsphere_linux_options_and_network_interface", exitCode: 1, flags: []string{}},
+		{folder: "unknown_builder", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 1}, // warn for unknown components not tracked in knownPluginPrefixes
+		{folder: "complete", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "without-annotations", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "minimal", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "source-name", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "error-cleanup-provisioner", flags: []string{"-with-annotations"}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "aws-access-config", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "escaping", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "vsphere_linux_options_and_network_interface", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0}, //do not warn for known uninstalled plugins components
 		{folder: "nonexistent", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 1, exitEarly: true},
 		{folder: "placeholders", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
 		{folder: "ami_test", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
 		{folder: "azure_shg", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
-		{folder: "variables-only", flags: []string{}},
-		{folder: "variables-with-variables", flags: []string{}},
-		{folder: "complete-variables-with-template-engine", flags: []string{}},
+		{folder: "variables-only", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "variables-with-variables", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
+		{folder: "complete-variables-with-template-engine", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
 		{folder: "undeclared-variables", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
 		{folder: "varfile-with-no-variables-block", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
 		{folder: "bundled-plugin-used", flags: []string{}, exitCode: 0},
diff --git a/command/meta.go b/command/meta.go
index 0e464ccc36d..9807df78b5d 100644
--- a/command/meta.go
+++ b/command/meta.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/hcl/v2/hclparse"
 	packersdk "github.com/hashicorp/packer-plugin-sdk/packer"
@@ -167,89 +166,3 @@ func (m *Meta) GetConfigFromJSON(cla *MetaArgs) (packer.Handler, int) {
 	}
 	return core, ret
 }
-
-var knownPluginPrefixes = map[string]string{
-	"amazon":        "github.com/hashicorp/amazon",
-	"ansible":       "github.com/hashicorp/ansible",
-	"azure":         "github.com/hashicorp/azure",
-	"docker":        "github.com/hashicorp/docker",
-	"googlecompute": "github.com/hashicorp/googlecompute",
-	"qemu":          "github.com/hashicorp/qemu",
-	"vagrant":       "github.com/hashicorp/vagrant",
-	"vmware":        "github.com/hashicorp/vmware",
-	"vsphere":       "github.com/hashicorp/vsphere",
-}
-
-func (m *Meta) fixRequiredPlugins(config *hcl2template.PackerConfig) string {
-	plugins := map[string]struct{}{}
-
-	for _, b := range config.Builds {
-		for _, b := range b.Sources {
-			for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-				if strings.HasPrefix(b.Type, prefix) {
-					plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		for _, p := range b.ProvisionerBlocks {
-			for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-				if strings.HasPrefix(p.PType, prefix) {
-					plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		for _, pps := range b.PostProcessorsLists {
-			for _, pp := range pps {
-				for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-					if strings.HasPrefix(pp.PType, prefix) {
-						plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	for _, ds := range config.Datasources {
-		for prefix, plugin := range knownPluginPrefixes {
-			if strings.HasPrefix(ds.Type, prefix) {
-				plugins[plugin] = struct{}{}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	retPlugins := make([]string, 0, len(plugins))
-	for plugin := range plugins {
-		retPlugins = append(retPlugins, plugin)
-	}
-
-	return generateRequiredPluginsBlock(retPlugins)
-}
-
-func generateRequiredPluginsBlock(plugins []string) string {
-	if len(plugins) == 0 {
-		return ""
-	}
-
-	buf := &strings.Builder{}
-	buf.WriteString(`
-packer {
-  required_plugins {`)
-
-	for _, plugin := range plugins {
-		pluginName := strings.Replace(plugin, "github.com/hashicorp/", "", 1)
-		fmt.Fprintf(buf, `
-    %s = {
-      source  = %q
-      version = "~> 1"
-    }`, pluginName, plugin)
-	}
-
-	buf.WriteString(`
-  }
-}
-`)
-
-	return buf.String()
-}