diff --git a/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapper.java b/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapper.java
index 10118812886..ffa27201381 100755
--- a/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapper.java
+++ b/rewrite-gradle/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapper.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import lombok.experimental.FieldDefaults;
 import lombok.experimental.NonFinal;
 import org.openrewrite.*;
+import org.openrewrite.gradle.search.FindGradleProject;
 import org.openrewrite.gradle.util.GradleWrapper;
 import org.openrewrite.internal.ListUtils;
 import org.openrewrite.internal.StringUtils;
@@ -150,6 +151,7 @@ private GradleWrapper getGradleWrapper(ExecutionContext ctx) {
     }
 
     public static class GradleWrapperState {
+        boolean gradleProject = false;
         boolean needsWrapperUpdate = false;
         BuildTool updatedMarker;
         boolean addGradleWrapperProperties = true;
@@ -225,6 +227,10 @@ public boolean isAcceptable(SourceFile sourceFile, ExecutionContext ctx) {
                             return false;
                         }
 
+                        if (new FindGradleProject(FindGradleProject.SearchCriteria.Marker).getVisitor().visitNonNull(sourceFile, ctx) != sourceFile) {
+                            acc.gradleProject = true;
+                        }
+
                         if ((sourceFile instanceof Quark || sourceFile instanceof Remote) &&
                             equalIgnoringSeparators(sourceFile.getSourcePath(), WRAPPER_JAR_LOCATION)) {
                             acc.addGradleWrapperJar = false;
@@ -253,6 +259,10 @@ public Collection<SourceFile> generate(GradleWrapperState acc, ExecutionContext
             return Collections.emptyList();
         }
 
+        if (!acc.gradleProject) {
+            return Collections.emptyList();
+        }
+
         if (!(acc.addGradleWrapperJar || acc.addGradleWrapperProperties || acc.addGradleBatchScript || acc.addGradleShellScript)) {
             return Collections.emptyList();
         }
diff --git a/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapperTest.java b/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapperTest.java
index 1537063e75c..92a271e7469 100755
--- a/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapperTest.java
+++ b/rewrite-gradle/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/gradle/UpdateGradleWrapperTest.java
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.openrewrite.gradle.Assertions.buildGradle;
+import static org.openrewrite.gradle.toolingapi.Assertions.withToolingApi;
 import static org.openrewrite.gradle.util.GradleWrapper.WRAPPER_BATCH_LOCATION;
 import static org.openrewrite.gradle.util.GradleWrapper.WRAPPER_JAR_LOCATION;
 import static org.openrewrite.gradle.util.GradleWrapper.WRAPPER_PROPERTIES_LOCATION;
@@ -67,7 +69,8 @@ class UpdateGradleWrapperTest implements RewriteTest {
 
     @Override
     public void defaults(RecipeSpec spec) {
-        spec.recipe(new UpdateGradleWrapper("7.4.2", null, null, null));
+        spec.recipe(new UpdateGradleWrapper("7.4.2", null, null, null))
+          .beforeRecipe(withToolingApi());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -95,7 +98,14 @@ void addGradleWrapper() {
               assertThat(gradleWrapperJar.getSourcePath()).isEqualTo(WRAPPER_JAR_LOCATION);
               assertThat(gradleWrapperJar.getUri()).isEqualTo(URI.create("https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-7.4.2-bin.zip"));
               assertThat(isValidWrapperJar(gradleWrapperJar)).as("Wrapper jar is not valid").isTrue();
-          })
+          }),
+          buildGradle(
+            """
+              plugins {
+                  id "java"
+              }
+              """
+          )
         );
     }
 
@@ -218,7 +228,10 @@ void updateChecksumAlreadySet() {
               zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
               """,
             spec -> spec.path("gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties")
-          )
+          ),
+          gradlew,
+          gradlewBat,
+          gradleWrapperJarQuark
         );
     }
 
@@ -325,7 +338,10 @@ void olderThan6_6() {
               distributionSha256Sum=1f3067073041bc44554d0efe5d402a33bc3d3c93cc39ab684f308586d732a80d
               """,
             spec -> spec.path("gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties")
-          )
+          ),
+          gradlew,
+          gradlewBat,
+          gradleWrapperJarQuark
         );
     }
 
@@ -383,7 +399,10 @@ void allowUpdatingDistributionTypeWhenSameVersion() {
               distributionSha256Sum=1f3067073041bc44554d0efe5d402a33bc3d3c93cc39ab684f308586d732a80d
               """,
             spec -> spec.path("gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties")
-          )
+          ),
+          gradlew,
+          gradlewBat,
+          gradleWrapperJarQuark
         );
     }