diff --git a/packages/devkit/package.json b/packages/devkit/package.json
index e48dfd25efa0ed..67576f16f7e140 100644
--- a/packages/devkit/package.json
+++ b/packages/devkit/package.json
@@ -27,11 +27,13 @@
   },
   "homepage": "https://nx.dev",
   "dependencies": {
-    "nx": "*",
     "ejs": "^3.1.5",
     "ignore": "^5.0.4",
     "rxjs": "^6.5.4",
     "semver": "7.3.4",
     "tslib": "^2.3.0"
+  },
+  "peerDependencies": {
+    "nx": ">= 13.10 <= 15"
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts b/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts
index 7f19f17f3acc0c..a3a55eb2d3f824 100644
--- a/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts
+++ b/packages/devkit/src/tasks/install-packages-task.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ import {
 import type { PackageManager } from 'nx/src/utils/package-manager';
 import { joinPathFragments } from 'nx/src/utils/path';
 
-let storedPackageJsonValue: string;
-
 /**
  * Runs `npm install` or `yarn install`. It will skip running the install if
  * `package.json` hasn't changed at all or it hasn't changed since the last invocation.
@@ -23,24 +21,27 @@ export function installPackagesTask(
   cwd: string = '',
   packageManager: PackageManager = detectPackageManager(cwd)
 ): void {
+  if (
+    !tree
+      .listChanges()
+      .find((f) => f.path === joinPathFragments(cwd, 'package.json')) &&
+    !alwaysRun
+  ) {
+    return;
+  }
+
   const packageJsonValue = tree.read(
     joinPathFragments(cwd, 'package.json'),
     'utf-8'
   );
-  if (
-    tree
-      .listChanges()
-      .find((f) => f.path === joinPathFragments(cwd, 'package.json')) ||
-    alwaysRun
-  ) {
-    // Don't install again if install was already executed with package.json
-    if (storedPackageJsonValue != packageJsonValue || alwaysRun) {
-      storedPackageJsonValue = packageJsonValue;
-      const pmc = getPackageManagerCommand(packageManager);
-      execSync(pmc.install, {
-        cwd: join(tree.root, cwd),
-        stdio: [0, 1, 2],
-      });
-    }
+  let storedPackageJsonValue: string = global['__packageJsonInstallCache__'];
+  // Don't install again if install was already executed with package.json
+  if (storedPackageJsonValue != packageJsonValue || alwaysRun) {
+    global['__packageJsonInstallCache__'] = packageJsonValue;
+    const pmc = getPackageManagerCommand(packageManager);
+    execSync(pmc.install, {
+      cwd: join(tree.root, cwd),
+      stdio: [0, 1, 2],
+    });
   }
 }