diff --git a/tools/BUILD b/tools/BUILD
index 0f69e23505fc27..f8af8a9e711ecb 100644
--- a/tools/BUILD
+++ b/tools/BUILD
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ filegroup(
         "//tools/jdk:bzl_srcs",
         "//tools/osx:bzl_srcs",
         "//tools/python:bzl_srcs",
+        "//tools/runfiles:bzl_srcs",
         "//tools/sh:bzl_srcs",
         "//tools/test:bzl_srcs",
         "//tools/windows:bzl_srcs",
diff --git a/tools/runfiles/BUILD b/tools/runfiles/BUILD
index 739336793ec972..7bf821a2256de6 100644
--- a/tools/runfiles/BUILD
+++ b/tools/runfiles/BUILD
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ filegroup(
 
 filegroup(
     name = "embedded_tools",
-    srcs = ["BUILD.tools"],
+    srcs = [
+        "BUILD.tools",
+        "runfiles.bzl",
+    ],
     visibility = ["//tools:__pkg__"],
 )
diff --git a/tools/runfiles/BUILD.tools b/tools/runfiles/BUILD.tools
index 3f0073a37079af..995c166c35b7a7 100644
--- a/tools/runfiles/BUILD.tools
+++ b/tools/runfiles/BUILD.tools
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
+package(default_visibility = ["//visibility:private"])
+
 java_library(
     name = "java-runfiles",
     deprecation = "Depend on @bazel_tools//tools/java/runfiles instead. This target will be deleted in Bazel 0.19.0",
-    visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     exports = ["//tools/java/runfiles"],
 )
+
+filegroup(
+    name = "bzl_srcs",
+    srcs = ["runfiles.bzl"],
+)
diff --git a/tools/runfiles/runfiles.bzl b/tools/runfiles/runfiles.bzl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..2d0830cbd2be86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/runfiles/runfiles.bzl
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+RunfilesLibraryInfo = provider(
+    doc = """
+A marker for targets providing runfiles lookup functionality.
+
+Rules may choose to emit additional information required to locate runfiles at runtime if this provider is present on a direct dependency.
+
+Note: At this point, neither Bazel nor native rules check for the presence of this provider.
+""",
+)
\ No newline at end of file