diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index e1d93abc9b00..8f95c615262c 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -7,21 +7,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/cmd/configschema"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/cmd/githubgen"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/cmd/mdatagen"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
   - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
     directory: "/cmd/opampsupervisor"
     schedule:
@@ -77,16 +62,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/examples/demo/client"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/examples/demo/server"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
   - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
     directory: "/exporter/alibabacloudlogserviceexporter"
     schedule:
@@ -337,16 +312,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/extension/encoding/jaegerencodingextension"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/extension/encoding/textencodingextension"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
   - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
     directory: "/extension/headerssetterextension"
     schedule:
@@ -422,61 +387,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/awsutil"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/containerinsight"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/cwlogs"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/ecsutil"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/k8s"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/metrics"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/proxy"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/xray"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/xray/testdata/sampleapp"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/aws/xray/testdata/sampleserver"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/internal/common"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
   - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
     directory: "/internal/coreinternal"
     schedule:
@@ -1077,11 +987,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "wednesday"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/receiver/simpleprometheusreceiver/examples/federation/prom-counter"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-      day: "wednesday"
   - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
     directory: "/receiver/skywalkingreceiver"
     schedule:
@@ -1102,3 +1007,98 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
       day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/splunkenterprisereceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/splunkhecreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/sqlqueryreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/sqlserverreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/sshcheckreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/statsdreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/syslogreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/tcplogreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/udplogreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/vcenterreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/wavefrontreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/webhookeventreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/windowseventlogreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/windowsperfcountersreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/zipkinreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/receiver/zookeeperreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/testbed"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/testbed/mockdatareceivers/mockawsxrayreceiver"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
+  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
+    directory: "/testbed/mockdatasenders/mockdatadogagentexporter"
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
+      day: "wednesday"
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d09d98cb70cd..5609995d718c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -145,29 +145,8 @@ push-tags: $(MULITMOD)
 DEPENDABOT_PATH=".github/dependabot.yml"
 .PHONY: gendependabot
 gendependabot:
-	@echo "Recreating ${DEPENDABOT_PATH} file"
-	@echo "# File generated by \"make gendependabot\"; DO NOT EDIT." > ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "version: 2" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "updates:" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "Add entry for \"/\" gomod"
-	@echo "  - package-ecosystem: \"gomod\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "    directory: \"/\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "    schedule:" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "      interval: \"weekly\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@echo "      day: \"wednesday\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}
-	@set -e; for dir in `echo $(NONROOT_MODS) | tr ' ' '\n' | head -n 219 | tr '\n' ' '`; do \
-		echo "Add entry for \"$${dir:1}\""; \
-		echo "  - package-ecosystem: \"gomod\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}; \
-		echo "    directory: \"$${dir:1}\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}; \
-		echo "    schedule:" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}; \
-		echo "      interval: \"weekly\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}; \
-		echo "      day: \"wednesday\"" >> ${DEPENDABOT_PATH}; \
-	done
-	@echo "The following modules are not included in the dependabot file because it has a limit of 220 entries:"
-	@set -e; for dir in `echo $(NONROOT_MODS) | tr ' ' '\n' | tail -n +220 | tr '\n' ' '`; do \
-		echo "  - $${dir:1}"; \
-	done
+	cd cmd/githubgen && $(GOCMD) install .
+	githubgen -dependabot
 
 
 # Define a delegation target for each module
diff --git a/cmd/githubgen/go.mod b/cmd/githubgen/go.mod
index bd353b723d6c..845517c6e301 100644
--- a/cmd/githubgen/go.mod
+++ b/cmd/githubgen/go.mod
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ go 1.20
 require (
 	github.com/google/go-github/v53 v53.2.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap v0.86.0
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
 
 require (
@@ -26,5 +27,4 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.12.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/appengine v1.6.7 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.31.0 // indirect
-	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/cmd/githubgen/main.go b/cmd/githubgen/main.go
index 7d7bb41beef8..efc161d72cb3 100644
--- a/cmd/githubgen/main.go
+++ b/cmd/githubgen/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
@@ -14,10 +15,14 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v53/github"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap/provider/fileprovider"
 )
 
+const maxDependabotUpdates = 220
+
 const codeownersHeader = `# Code generated by githubgen. DO NOT EDIT.
 #####################################################
 #
@@ -74,20 +79,84 @@ internal/common
 
 `
 
+const dependabotHeader = `# File generated by "make gendependabot"; DO NOT EDIT.
+
+`
+
 const unmaintainedStatus = "unmaintained"
 
-// Generates files specific to Github according to status metadata:
+// Generates files specific to Github or Dependabot according to status metadata:
 // .github/CODEOWNERS
 // .github/ALLOWLIST
+// .github/dependabot.yml
 func main() {
 	folder := flag.String("folder", ".", "folder investigated for codeowners")
 	allowlistFilePath := flag.String("allowlist", "cmd/githubgen/allowlist.txt", "path to a file containing an allowlist of members outside the OpenTelemetry organization")
+	dependabotOnly := flag.Bool("dependabot", false, "only generate dependabot entries")
 	flag.Parse()
-	if err := run(*folder, *allowlistFilePath); err != nil {
+	if err := run(*folder, *allowlistFilePath, *dependabotOnly); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
 
+type DependabotSchedule struct {
+	Interval yaml.Node `yaml:"interval"`
+	Day      yaml.Node `yaml:"day"`
+}
+
+type DependabotUpdate struct {
+	PackageEcosystem yaml.Node          `yaml:"package-ecosystem"`
+	Directory        yaml.Node          `yaml:"directory"`
+	Schedule         DependabotSchedule `yaml:"schedule"`
+	Priority         int                `yaml:"-"`
+}
+
+type DependabotData struct {
+	Version int                `yaml:"version"`
+	Updates []DependabotUpdate `yaml:"updates"`
+}
+
+func makePriority(status *Status) int {
+	// not an internal component such as pkg/**, and no distributions:
+	if len(status.Distributions) == 0 && status.Class != "" {
+		return 1
+	}
+	// start with a score of 2
+	maxScore := 2
+	for stability := range status.Stability {
+		switch stability {
+		case "deprecated": // stay with 2
+		case "unmaintained":
+			return 1
+		case "alpha":
+			if maxScore < 3 {
+				maxScore = 3
+			}
+		case "beta":
+			if maxScore < 4 {
+				maxScore = 4
+			}
+		case "stable":
+			if maxScore < 5 {
+				maxScore = 5
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return maxScore
+}
+
+func newDependabotUpdate(directory string, priority int) DependabotUpdate {
+	return DependabotUpdate{
+		PackageEcosystem: yaml.Node{Value: "gomod", Style: yaml.DoubleQuotedStyle, Kind: yaml.ScalarNode},
+		Directory:        yaml.Node{Value: "/" + directory, Style: yaml.DoubleQuotedStyle, Kind: yaml.ScalarNode},
+		Schedule: DependabotSchedule{
+			Interval: yaml.Node{Value: "weekly", Style: yaml.DoubleQuotedStyle, Kind: yaml.ScalarNode},
+			Day:      yaml.Node{Value: "wednesday", Style: yaml.DoubleQuotedStyle, Kind: yaml.ScalarNode},
+		},
+		Priority: priority,
+	}
+}
+
 type Codeowners struct {
 	// Active codeowners
 	Active []string `mapstructure:"active"`
@@ -129,27 +198,19 @@ func loadMetadata(filePath string) (metadata, error) {
 	return md, nil
 }
 
-func run(folder string, allowlistFilePath string) error {
-	members, err := getGithubMembers()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	allowlistData, err := os.ReadFile(allowlistFilePath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	allowlistLines := strings.Split(string(allowlistData), "\n")
-
-	allowlist := make(map[string]struct{}, len(allowlistLines))
-	for _, line := range allowlistLines {
-		allowlist[line] = struct{}{}
-	}
+func run(folder string, allowlistFilePath string, dependabotOnly bool) error {
 
 	components := map[string]metadata{}
 	var foldersList []string
+	dependabotData := &DependabotData{
+		Version: 2,
+		Updates: []DependabotUpdate{
+			newDependabotUpdate("", 5),
+		},
+	}
 	maxLength := 0
 	allCodeowners := map[string]struct{}{}
-	err = filepath.Walk(folder, func(path string, info fs.FileInfo, err error) error {
+	err := filepath.Walk(folder, func(path string, info fs.FileInfo, err error) error {
 		if info.Name() == "metadata.yaml" {
 			m, err := loadMetadata(path)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -158,15 +219,23 @@ func run(folder string, allowlistFilePath string) error {
 			if m.Status == nil {
 				return nil
 			}
-			key := filepath.Dir(path) + "/"
+			currentFolder := filepath.Dir(path)
+			key := currentFolder + "/"
 			components[key] = m
 			foldersList = append(foldersList, key)
+			_, err = os.Stat(filepath.Join(currentFolder, "go.mod"))
+			if err == nil { // go.mod file exists.
+				dependabotData.Updates = append(dependabotData.Updates, newDependabotUpdate(currentFolder, makePriority(m.Status)))
+			}
 			for stability := range m.Status.Stability {
 				if stability == unmaintainedStatus {
 					// do not account for unmaintained status to change the max length of the component line.
 					return nil
 				}
 			}
+			if m.Status.Codeowners == nil {
+				return nil
+			}
 			for _, id := range m.Status.Codeowners.Active {
 				allCodeowners[id] = struct{}{}
 			}
@@ -179,9 +248,64 @@ func run(folder string, allowlistFilePath string) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if !dependabotOnly {
+		if err = generateCodeownersFiles(foldersList, allCodeowners, allowlistFilePath, components, maxLength); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	sort.Slice(dependabotData.Updates, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return dependabotData.Updates[i].Priority > dependabotData.Updates[j].Priority
+	})
+	removed := dependabotData.Updates[maxDependabotUpdates:]
+	dependabotData.Updates = dependabotData.Updates[:maxDependabotUpdates]
+	if len(removed) > 0 {
+		sort.Slice(removed, func(i, j int) bool {
+			return strings.Compare(removed[i].Directory.Value, removed[j].Directory.Value) < 0
+		})
+		fmt.Printf("The following modules were not added to Dependabot to keep within limits of %d\n", maxDependabotUpdates)
+		for _, update := range removed {
+			fmt.Printf("  - %q\n", update.Directory.Value)
+		}
+	}
+
+	sort.Slice(dependabotData.Updates, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return strings.Compare(dependabotData.Updates[i].Directory.Value, dependabotData.Updates[j].Directory.Value) < 0
+	})
+
+	var yamlContents bytes.Buffer
+	encoder := yaml.NewEncoder(&yamlContents)
+	encoder.SetIndent(2)
+	err = encoder.Encode(dependabotData)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(".github", "dependabot.yml"), append([]byte(dependabotHeader), yamlContents.Bytes()...), 0600)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func generateCodeownersFiles(foldersList []string, allCodeowners map[string]struct{}, allowlistFilePath string, components map[string]metadata, maxLength int) error {
+	allowlistData, err := os.ReadFile(allowlistFilePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	allowlistLines := strings.Split(string(allowlistData), "\n")
+
+	allowlist := make(map[string]struct{}, len(allowlistLines))
+	for _, line := range allowlistLines {
+		allowlist[line] = struct{}{}
+	}
 	sort.Strings(foldersList)
 	var missingCodeowners []string
 	var duplicateCodeowners []string
+	members, err := getGithubMembers()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	for codeowner := range allCodeowners {
 		_, present := members[codeowner]
 
@@ -248,7 +372,6 @@ LOOP:
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
 	return nil
 }