diff --git a/model/src/main/kotlin/Identifier.kt b/model/src/main/kotlin/Identifier.kt
index d43afd6993777..debc933a4387d 100644
--- a/model/src/main/kotlin/Identifier.kt
+++ b/model/src/main/kotlin/Identifier.kt
@@ -49,7 +49,12 @@ data class Identifier(
     /**
      * The version of the component.
      */
-    val version: String
+    val version: String,
+
+    /**
+     * The selected variants of the component.
+     */
+    val variants: Set<String> = emptySet()
 ) : Comparable<Identifier> {
     companion object {
         /**
diff --git a/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyGraphBuilder.kt b/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyGraphBuilder.kt
index 036065e2d8726..6b6525e1d8a95 100644
--- a/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyGraphBuilder.kt
+++ b/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyGraphBuilder.kt
@@ -326,9 +326,16 @@ class DependencyGraphBuilder<D>(
         val dependencies = dependencyHandler.dependenciesFor(dependency)
         if (ref.dependencies.size != dependencies.size) return false
 
-        val dependencies1 = ref.dependencies.map { dependencyIds[it.pkg] }
+        val dependencies1 = ref.dependencies.mapTo(mutableSetOf()) { dependencyIds[it.pkg] }
         val dependencies2 = dependencies.associateBy { dependencyHandler.identifierFor(it) }
-        if (!dependencies2.keys.containsAll(dependencies1)) return false
+
+        if (dependencies1 == dependencies2.keys) {
+            if (!dependencyHandler.requiresDeepDependencyTreeComparison()) {
+                return true
+            }
+        } else {
+            return false
+        }
 
         return ref.dependencies.all { refDep ->
             dependencies2[dependencyIds[refDep.pkg]]?.let { dependencyTreeEquals(refDep, it) } == true
diff --git a/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyHandler.kt b/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyHandler.kt
index cf1630f8800ef..b88cfd09165b0 100644
--- a/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyHandler.kt
+++ b/model/src/main/kotlin/utils/DependencyHandler.kt
@@ -65,4 +65,11 @@ interface DependencyHandler<D> {
      * implementation returns an empty collection.
      */
     fun issuesForDependency(dependency: D): List<Issue> = emptyList()
+
+    /**
+     * Does node comparison require a deep comparison of the whole dependency subtree or not? If the underlying
+     * dependency management system, gives the guarantee for the latter, a costly comparison can be avoided and
+     * speed up the analysis process.
+     */
+    fun requiresDeepDependencyTreeComparison() = true
 }
diff --git a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-inspector/src/main/kotlin/GradleDependencyHandler.kt b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-inspector/src/main/kotlin/GradleDependencyHandler.kt
index 10e7d8fc0c4ed..79ea1e2f693f9 100644
--- a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-inspector/src/main/kotlin/GradleDependencyHandler.kt
+++ b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-inspector/src/main/kotlin/GradleDependencyHandler.kt
@@ -128,6 +128,12 @@ internal class GradleDependencyHandler(
             isMetadataOnly = hasNoArtifacts
         )
     }
+
+    /*
+     * In case of Gradle, the costly deep comparison can be skipped, because if the direct dependencies are the same,
+     * their children are also the same.
+     */
+    override fun requiresDeepDependencyTreeComparison() = false
 }
 
 // See http://maven.apache.org/pom.html#SCM.
diff --git a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-model/src/main/kotlin/GradleModel.kt b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-model/src/main/kotlin/GradleModel.kt
index 0cd71b033af87..340c0d464e8c1 100644
--- a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-model/src/main/kotlin/GradleModel.kt
+++ b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-model/src/main/kotlin/GradleModel.kt
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ interface OrtDependency {
     val groupId: String
     val artifactId: String
     val version: String
+    val variants: Set<String>
     val classifier: String
     val extension: String
     val dependencies: List<OrtDependency>
diff --git a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelBuilder.kt b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelBuilder.kt
index ad57afb8448b0..1e357ce0a038c 100644
--- a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelBuilder.kt
+++ b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelBuilder.kt
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ internal class OrtModelBuilder : ToolingModelBuilder {
                                 groupId = id.group,
                                 artifactId = id.module,
                                 version = id.version,
+                                variants = selectedComponent.variants.map { it.displayName }.toSet(),
                                 classifier = "",
                                 extension = modelBuildingResult?.effectiveModel?.packaging.orEmpty(),
                                 dependencies = dependencies,
@@ -252,6 +253,7 @@ internal class OrtModelBuilder : ToolingModelBuilder {
                                 groupId = moduleId.group,
                                 artifactId = moduleId.name,
                                 version = moduleId.version.takeUnless { it == "unspecified" }.orEmpty(),
+                                variants = selectedComponent.variants.map { it.displayName }.toSet(),
                                 classifier = "",
                                 extension = "",
                                 dependencies = dependencies,
diff --git a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelImpl.kt b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelImpl.kt
index e9f699ad95549..5cfff15519d5b 100644
--- a/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelImpl.kt
+++ b/plugins/package-managers/gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/OrtModelImpl.kt
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ internal class OrtDependencyImpl(
     override val artifactId: String,
     override val version: String,
     override val classifier: String,
+    override val variants: Set<String>,
     override val extension: String,
     override val dependencies: List<OrtDependency>,
     override val error: String?,
diff --git a/plugins/package-managers/gradle/src/main/resources/init.gradle b/plugins/package-managers/gradle/src/main/resources/init.gradle
index 80bd78e41117f..7b8be3439e936 100644
--- a/plugins/package-managers/gradle/src/main/resources/init.gradle
+++ b/plugins/package-managers/gradle/src/main/resources/init.gradle
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ interface OrtDependency {
     String getArtifactId()
     String getVersion()
     String getClassifier()
+    Set<String> getVariants()
     String getExtension()
     List<OrtDependency> getDependencies()
     String getError()
@@ -104,6 +105,7 @@ class OrtDependencyImpl implements OrtDependency, Serializable {
     String groupId = ''
     String artifactId = ''
     String version = ''
+    Set<String> variants = []
     String classifier = ''
     String extension = ''
     List<OrtDependency> dependencies = []
@@ -369,7 +371,7 @@ class AbstractOrtDependencyTreePlugin<T> implements Plugin<T> {
                     def classifier = artifact?.classifier ?: ''
                     def extension = artifact?.extension ?: ''
 
-                    return new OrtDependencyImpl(id.group, id.module, id.version, classifier, extension, dependencies,
+                    return new OrtDependencyImpl(id.group, id.module, id.version, [] as Set, classifier, extension, dependencies,
                             error, warning, pomFile, null)
                 } else if (id instanceof ProjectComponentIdentifier) {
                     if (id.build.isCurrentBuild() || !project.gradle.gradleVersion.isAtLeastVersion(7, 2)) {