diff --git a/.pipelines/templates/build-python-steps.yml b/.pipelines/templates/build-python-steps.yml
index 6fd0cd34..8ab4d8d1 100644
--- a/.pipelines/templates/build-python-steps.yml
+++ b/.pipelines/templates/build-python-steps.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ parameters:
   default: false
 - name: flcWheelsDir
   type: string
-  default: ''
   displayName: 'Path to directory containing the FLC wheels (for overriding foundry-local-core)'
 - name: outputDir
   type: string
@@ -111,16 +110,23 @@ steps:
         Write-Warning "No FLC wheel found matching $filter in ${{ parameters.flcWheelsDir }}"
       }
 
+- script: pip install onnxruntime-core==1.24.3 onnxruntime-genai-core==0.12.1
+  displayName: 'Install ORT native packages'
+
+- script: pip install "pydantic>=2.0.0" "requests>=2.32.4" "openai>=2.24.0"
+  displayName: 'Install pure python dependencies'
+
 # Build wheel — standard or WinML variant
-# skip-native-deps=true omits foundry-local-core/onnxruntime pinned versions
-# from the wheel metadata, since the pipeline pre-installs its own builds.
+# The wheel retains all dependencies in its metadata so end users get
+# native packages installed automatically.  CI uses --no-deps to avoid
+# re-downloading packages that were pre-installed from pipeline builds.
 - ${{ if eq(parameters.isWinML, true) }}:
-  - script: python -m build --wheel -C winml=true -C skip-native-deps=true --outdir dist/
+  - script: python -m build --wheel -C winml=true --outdir dist/
     displayName: 'Build wheel (WinML)'
     workingDirectory: $(repoRoot)/sdk/python
 
 - ${{ else }}:
-  - script: python -m build --wheel -C skip-native-deps=true --outdir dist/
+  - script: python -m build --wheel --outdir dist/
     displayName: 'Build wheel'
     workingDirectory: $(repoRoot)/sdk/python
 
@@ -131,7 +137,7 @@ steps:
     targetType: inline
     script: |
       $wheel = (Get-ChildItem "$(repoRoot)/sdk/python/dist/*.whl" | Select-Object -First 1).FullName
-      pip install $wheel
+      pip install --no-deps $wheel
 
 # Stage output
 - task: PowerShell@2
diff --git a/.pipelines/templates/test-python-steps.yml b/.pipelines/templates/test-python-steps.yml
index f54a9464..1da74ee2 100644
--- a/.pipelines/templates/test-python-steps.yml
+++ b/.pipelines/templates/test-python-steps.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ parameters:
   default: false
 - name: flcWheelsDir
   type: string
-  default: ''
   displayName: 'Path to directory containing the FLC wheels'
 
 steps:
@@ -99,19 +98,19 @@ steps:
         Write-Warning "No FLC wheel found matching $filter"
       }
 
-# Install ORT native packages from the ORT-Nightly feed.
-# skip-native-deps strips these from the SDK wheel metadata, so they
-# must be installed explicitly for tests to locate the native binaries.
-- script: pip install onnxruntime-core onnxruntime-genai-core
+- script: pip install onnxruntime-core==1.24.3 onnxruntime-genai-core==0.12.1
   displayName: 'Install ORT native packages'
 
+- script: pip install "pydantic>=2.0.0" "requests>=2.32.4" "openai>=2.24.0"
+  displayName: 'Install pure python dependencies'
+
 - ${{ if not(parameters.isWinML) }}:
-  - script: python -m build --wheel -C skip-native-deps=true --outdir dist/
+  - script: python -m build --wheel --outdir dist/
     displayName: 'Build wheel'
     workingDirectory: $(repoRoot)/sdk/python
 
 - ${{ if parameters.isWinML }}:
-  - script: python -m build --wheel -C winml=true -C skip-native-deps=true --outdir dist/
+  - script: python -m build --wheel -C winml=true --outdir dist/
     displayName: 'Build wheel (WinML)'
     workingDirectory: $(repoRoot)/sdk/python
 
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ steps:
     targetType: inline
     script: |
       $wheel = (Get-ChildItem "$(repoRoot)/sdk/python/dist/*.whl" | Select-Object -First 1).FullName
-      pip install $wheel
+      pip install --no-deps $wheel
 
 - script: pip install coverage pytest>=7.0.0 pytest-timeout>=2.1.0
   displayName: 'Install test dependencies'
diff --git a/sdk/python/build_backend.py b/sdk/python/build_backend.py
index 3789501b..1bdf6cbb 100644
--- a/sdk/python/build_backend.py
+++ b/sdk/python/build_backend.py
@@ -18,14 +18,13 @@
 
     python -m build --wheel -C winml=true
 
-Skip native deps (use pre-installed foundry-local-core / ORT / GenAI)::
-
-    python -m build --wheel -C skip-native-deps=true
-
 Environment variable fallback (useful in CI pipelines)::
 
     FOUNDRY_VARIANT=winml python -m build --wheel
-    FOUNDRY_SKIP_NATIVE_DEPS=1 python -m build --wheel
+
+CI usage (install without pulling dependencies)::
+
+    pip install --no-deps <wheel>
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -51,13 +50,6 @@
 _STANDARD_NAME = 'name = "foundry-local-sdk"'
 _WINML_NAME = 'name = "foundry-local-sdk-winml"'
 
-# Native binary package prefixes to strip when skip-native-deps is active.
-_NATIVE_DEP_PREFIXES = (
-    "foundry-local-core",
-    "onnxruntime-core",
-    "onnxruntime-genai-core",
-)
-
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Variant detection
@@ -75,23 +67,6 @@ def _is_winml(config_settings: dict | None) -> bool:
     return os.environ.get("FOUNDRY_VARIANT", "").lower() == "winml"
 
 
-def _is_skip_native_deps(config_settings: dict | None) -> bool:
-    """Return True when native binary dependencies should be omitted.
-
-    When set, ``foundry-local-core``, ``onnxruntime-core``, and
-    ``onnxruntime-genai-core`` are stripped from requirements.txt so the
-    wheel is built against whatever versions are already installed.
-    Useful in CI pipelines that pre-install pipeline-built native wheels.
-
-    Checks ``config_settings["skip-native-deps"]`` first
-    (set via ``-C skip-native-deps=true``), then falls back to the
-    ``FOUNDRY_SKIP_NATIVE_DEPS`` environment variable.
-    """
-    if config_settings and str(config_settings.get("skip-native-deps", "")).lower() == "true":
-        return True
-    return os.environ.get("FOUNDRY_SKIP_NATIVE_DEPS", "").lower() in ("1", "true")
-
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # In-place patching context manager
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -125,48 +100,11 @@ def _patch_for_winml() -> Generator[None, None, None]:
         _REQUIREMENTS.write_text(requirements_original, encoding="utf-8")
 
 
-@contextlib.contextmanager
-def _strip_native_deps() -> Generator[None, None, None]:
-    """Temporarily remove native binary deps from requirements.txt.
-
-    Lines starting with any prefix in ``_NATIVE_DEP_PREFIXES`` (case-
-    insensitive) are removed.  The file is restored in the ``finally``
-    block.
-    """
-    requirements_original = _REQUIREMENTS.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
-    try:
-        filtered = [
-            line for line in requirements_original.splitlines(keepends=True)
-            if not any(line.lstrip().lower().startswith(p) for p in _NATIVE_DEP_PREFIXES)
-        ]
-        _REQUIREMENTS.write_text("".join(filtered), encoding="utf-8")
-        yield
-    finally:
-        _REQUIREMENTS.write_text(requirements_original, encoding="utf-8")
-
-
 def _apply_patches(config_settings: dict | None):
     """Return a context manager that applies the appropriate patches."""
-    winml = _is_winml(config_settings)
-    skip_native = _is_skip_native_deps(config_settings)
-
-    @contextlib.contextmanager
-    def _combined():
-        # Stack contexts: WinML swaps requirements first, then strip_native
-        # removes native deps from whatever requirements are active.
-        if winml and skip_native:
-            with _patch_for_winml(), _strip_native_deps():
-                yield
-        elif winml:
-            with _patch_for_winml():
-                yield
-        elif skip_native:
-            with _strip_native_deps():
-                yield
-        else:
-            yield
-
-    return _combined()
+    if _is_winml(config_settings):
+        return _patch_for_winml()
+    return contextlib.nullcontext()
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------