diff --git a/cli/src/android/update.ts b/cli/src/android/update.ts
index 8da8d8d9d..9593ad6f5 100644
--- a/cli/src/android/update.ts
+++ b/cli/src/android/update.ts
@@ -37,12 +37,15 @@ export async function updateAndroid(config: Config): Promise<void> {
   printPlugins(capacitorPlugins, 'android');
 
   const cordovaPlugins = plugins.filter((p) => getPluginType(p, platform) === PluginType.Cordova);
-  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0;
+  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0 || config.app.forceCordova;
 
   await writePluginsJson(config, capacitorPlugins, enableCordova);
   await removePluginsNativeFiles(config);
   if (enableCordova) {
     logger.info('Found Cordova Plugins: Including Android Cordova Support');
+    if (config.app.forceCordova) {
+      logger.info('Cordova support installation has been forced');
+    }
     await copyPluginsNativeFiles(config, cordovaPlugins);
   }
   if (!(await pathExists(config.android.webDirAbs))) {
@@ -157,7 +160,7 @@ export async function installGradlePlugins(
     );
   }
 
-  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0;
+  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0 || config.app.forceCordova;
 
   const capacitorAndroidPath = resolve(dirname(capacitorAndroidPackagePath), 'capacitor');
   const capacitorCordovaAndroidPath = resolve(dirname(capacitorAndroidPackagePath), 'capacitor-cordova');
diff --git a/cli/src/config.ts b/cli/src/config.ts
index 9c6c5183d..6a13cfbea 100644
--- a/cli/src/config.ts
+++ b/cli/src/config.ts
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export async function loadConfig(): Promise<Config> {
   const appId = conf.extConfig.appId ?? '';
   const appName = conf.extConfig.appName ?? '';
   const webDir = conf.extConfig.webDir ?? 'www';
+  const forceCordova = conf.extConfig.forceCordovaInclusion ?? false;
   const cli = await loadCLIConfig(cliRootDir);
 
   const config: Config = {
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ export async function loadConfig(): Promise<Config> {
       appName,
       webDir,
       webDirAbs: resolve(appRootDir, webDir),
+      forceCordova,
       package: (await tryFn(readJSON, resolve(appRootDir, 'package.json'))) ?? {
         name: appName,
         version: '1.0.0',
diff --git a/cli/src/declarations.ts b/cli/src/declarations.ts
index 1103b6585..8d1a40e62 100644
--- a/cli/src/declarations.ts
+++ b/cli/src/declarations.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ export interface CapacitorConfig {
    */
   initialFocus?: boolean;
 
+  /**
+   * If set, will include Cordova support libraries regardless
+   * of whether or not they are needed by plugins.
+   *
+   * @since 9.0.0
+   * @default false
+   */
+  forceCordovaInclusion?: boolean;
+
   android?: {
     /**
      * Specify a custom path to the native Android project.
diff --git a/cli/src/definitions.ts b/cli/src/definitions.ts
index 2df6398e9..56bf3cdb5 100644
--- a/cli/src/definitions.ts
+++ b/cli/src/definitions.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ export interface AppConfig {
   readonly extConfigName: string;
   readonly extConfigFilePath: string;
   readonly extConfig: ExternalConfig;
+  readonly forceCordova: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface AndroidConfig extends PlatformConfig {
diff --git a/cli/src/ios/update.ts b/cli/src/ios/update.ts
index 93a1ad4b5..ca85595c1 100644
--- a/cli/src/ios/update.ts
+++ b/cli/src/ios/update.ts
@@ -43,10 +43,13 @@ export async function updateIOS(config: Config, deployment: boolean): Promise<vo
 async function updatePluginFiles(config: Config, plugins: Plugin[], deployment: boolean) {
   await removePluginsNativeFiles(config);
   const cordovaPlugins = plugins.filter((p) => getPluginType(p, platform) === PluginType.Cordova);
-  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0;
+  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0 || config.app.forceCordova;
 
   if (enableCordova) {
     logger.info('Found Cordova Plugins: Including iOS Cordova Support');
+    if (config.app.forceCordova) {
+      logger.info('Cordova support installation has been forced');
+    }
     await copyPluginsNativeFiles(config, cordovaPlugins);
   }
 
diff --git a/cli/src/util/spm.ts b/cli/src/util/spm.ts
index 3243c3efd..1ef002b38 100644
--- a/cli/src/util/spm.ts
+++ b/cli/src/util/spm.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export async function generatePackageText(config: Config, plugins: Plugin[]): Pr
   const iosPlatformVersion = await getCapacitorPackageVersion(config, config.ios.name);
   const iosVersion = getMajoriOSVersion(config);
   const cordovaPlugins = await getCordovaPlugins(config, 'ios');
-  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0;
+  const enableCordova = cordovaPlugins.length > 0 || config.app.forceCordova;
   const packageTraits = config.app.extConfig.experimental?.ios?.spm?.packageTraits ?? {};
   const packageOptions = config.app.extConfig.experimental?.ios?.spm?.packageOptions ?? {};
   const swiftToolsVersion = config.app.extConfig.experimental?.ios?.spm?.swiftToolsVersion ?? '5.9';
diff --git a/cli/test/framework-detection.spec.ts b/cli/test/framework-detection.spec.ts
index 46727753c..725398dd4 100644
--- a/cli/test/framework-detection.spec.ts
+++ b/cli/test/framework-detection.spec.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ describe('framework detection', () => {
         appName: 'appName',
         webDir: '',
         webDirAbs: '',
+        forceCordova: false,
         package: {
           name: 'package-name',
           version: '0.0.0',