diff --git a/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/Symbol.java b/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/Symbol.java
index 78946cb1237..aeb2de15891 100644
--- a/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/Symbol.java
+++ b/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/Symbol.java
@@ -382,7 +382,23 @@ public Builder addDependency(SymbolDependency dependency) {
          * @return Returns the builder.
          */
         public Builder addDependency(String packageName, String version) {
-            return addDependency(SymbolDependency.builder().packageName(packageName).version(version).build());
+            return addDependency(null, packageName, version);
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Add a symbol dependency.
+         *
+         * @param dependencyType Type of dependency.
+         * @param packageName Name of the package to depend on.
+         * @param version Version to depend on.
+         * @return Returns the builder.
+         */
+        public Builder addDependency(String dependencyType, String packageName, String version) {
+            return addDependency(SymbolDependency.builder()
+                    .dependencyType(dependencyType)
+                    .packageName(packageName)
+                    .version(version)
+                    .build());
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependency.java b/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependency.java
index d62bb00206b..345a075db23 100644
--- a/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependency.java
+++ b/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependency.java
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@
  * of the suggested package, and {@code version} to the description of the
  * suggestion.
  */
-public final class SymbolDependency extends TypedPropertiesBag implements ToSmithyBuilder<SymbolDependency> {
+public final class SymbolDependency extends TypedPropertiesBag
+        implements ToSmithyBuilder<SymbolDependency>, Comparable<SymbolDependency> {
 
     private final String dependencyType;
     private final String packageName;
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ public final class SymbolDependency extends TypedPropertiesBag implements ToSmit
 
     private SymbolDependency(Builder builder) {
         super(builder.properties);
-        this.dependencyType = SmithyBuilder.requiredState("dependencyType", builder.dependencyType);
+        this.dependencyType = builder.dependencyType == null ? "" : builder.dependencyType;
         this.packageName = SmithyBuilder.requiredState("packageName", builder.packageName);
         this.version = SmithyBuilder.requiredState("version", builder.version);
     }
@@ -145,6 +146,27 @@ public int hashCode() {
         return Objects.hash(dependencyType, packageName, version);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Dependencies can be sorted based on the natural sort order of
+     * the dependencyType, packageName, and finally the version.
+     *
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     */
+    @Override
+    public int compareTo(SymbolDependency other) {
+        int typeResult = dependencyType.compareTo(other.dependencyType);
+        if (typeResult != 0) {
+            return typeResult;
+        }
+
+        int packageResult = packageName.compareTo(other.packageName);
+        if (packageResult != 0) {
+            return packageResult;
+        }
+
+        return version.compareTo(other.version);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Builds a SymbolDependency.
      */
diff --git a/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependencyTest.java b/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependencyTest.java
index eac1042f786..889b1514f90 100644
--- a/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependencyTest.java
+++ b/codegen/smithy-codegen-core/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/codegen/core/SymbolDependencyTest.java
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 package software.amazon.smithy.codegen.core;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.contains;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 public class SymbolDependencyTest {
@@ -40,4 +44,18 @@ public void hasProperties() {
 
         assertThat(dependency.expectProperty("foo", String.class), equalTo("baz!"));
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void canBeSorted() {
+        SymbolDependency a = SymbolDependency.builder().dependencyType("a").packageName("a").version("1").build();
+        SymbolDependency a2 = SymbolDependency.builder().dependencyType("a").packageName("a2").version("1").build();
+        SymbolDependency a3 = SymbolDependency.builder().dependencyType("a2").packageName("a").version("1").build();
+        SymbolDependency b = SymbolDependency.builder().dependencyType("b").packageName("b").version("1").build();
+        SymbolDependency b2 = SymbolDependency.builder().dependencyType("b").packageName("b").version("2").build();
+        SymbolDependency c = SymbolDependency.builder().dependencyType("b").packageName("c").version("1").build();
+        List<SymbolDependency> dependencies = Arrays.asList(c, b2, b, a3, a2, a);
+        Collections.sort(dependencies);
+
+        assertThat(dependencies, contains(a, a2, a3, b, b2, c));
+    }
 }