diff --git a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt
index 7c35c6e2fc2..472d43facf4 100644
--- a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt
+++ b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin-integration-tests/src/test/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/KotlinGradlePluginIT.kt
@@ -876,6 +876,39 @@ class KotlinGradleIT : BaseGradleIT() {
             }
         }
 
+    @Test
+    fun testKotlinJvmProjectPublishesKotlinApiDependenciesAsCompile() =
+        with(Project("simpleProject", GradleVersionRequired.AtLeast("4.4"))) {
+            setupWorkingDir()
+            gradleBuildScript().appendText(
+                "\n" + """
+                dependencies {
+                    api 'org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-reflect'
+                }
+                apply plugin: 'maven-publish'
+                group "com.example"
+                version "1.0"
+                publishing {
+                    repositories { maven { url file("${'$'}buildDir/repo").toURI() } }
+                    publications { maven(MavenPublication) { from components.java } }
+                }
+                """.trimIndent()
+            )
+            build("publish") {
+                assertSuccessful()
+                val pomText = projectDir.resolve("build/repo/com/example/simpleProject/1.0/simpleProject-1.0.pom").readText()
+                    .replace("\\s+|\\n".toRegex(), "")
+                assertTrue {
+                    pomText.contains(
+                        "<groupId>org.jetbrains.kotlin</groupId>" +
+                                "<artifactId>kotlin-reflect</artifactId>" +
+                                "<version>${defaultBuildOptions().kotlinVersion}</version>" +
+                                "<scope>compile</scope>"
+                    )
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
     @Test
     fun testNoTaskConfigurationForcing() {
         val gradleVersionRequirement = GradleVersionRequired.AtLeast("4.9")
diff --git a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt
index 7ecfc58f003..2b74b13a0ce 100755
--- a/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt
+++ b/libraries/tools/kotlin-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/gradle/plugin/KotlinPlugin.kt
@@ -454,6 +454,18 @@ internal abstract class AbstractKotlinPlugin(
                 val kotlinSourceSet = project.kotlinExtension.sourceSets.maybeCreate(kotlinCompilation.defaultSourceSetName)
                 kotlinCompilation.source(kotlinSourceSet)
             }
+
+            // Since the 'java' plugin (as opposed to 'java-library') doesn't known anything about the 'api' configurations,
+            // add the API dependencies of the main compilation directly to the 'apiElements' configuration, so that the 'api' dependencies
+            // are properly published with the 'compile' scope (KT-28355):
+            project.whenEvaluated {
+                project.configurations.apply {
+                    val apiElementsConfiguration = getByName(kotlinTarget.apiElementsConfigurationName)
+                    val mainCompilation = kotlinTarget.compilations.getByName(KotlinCompilation.MAIN_COMPILATION_NAME)
+                    val compilationApiConfiguration = getByName(mainCompilation.apiConfigurationName)
+                    apiElementsConfiguration.extendsFrom(compilationApiConfiguration)
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         private fun configureAttributes(