diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
index 6ab847c84c..32b3f16ba4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
         with:
           extra-packages: |
+            any::cyclocomp
             r-lib/lintr
             local::.
           needs: lint
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index ae418c7296..fdd59d0d76 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ Depends:
 Imports:
     backports (>= 1.1.7),
     codetools,
-    cyclocomp,
     digest,
     glue,
     knitr,
@@ -37,6 +36,7 @@ Imports:
 Suggests:
     bookdown,
     cli,
+    cyclocomp,
     jsonlite,
     patrick (>= 0.2.0),
     rlang,
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 00d9ad2e09..b31ed1b499 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@ export(with_id)
 export(xml_nodes_to_lints)
 export(xp_call_name)
 export(yoda_test_linter)
-importFrom(cyclocomp,cyclocomp)
 importFrom(glue,glue)
 importFrom(glue,glue_collapse)
 importFrom(rex,character_class)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index e85efaeb10..dc089c28f8 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 * `extraction_operator_linter()` is deprecated. Although switching from `$` to `[[` has some robustness benefits for package code, it can lead to non-idiomatic code in many contexts (e.g. R6 classes, Shiny applications, etc.) (#2409, @IndrajeetPatil). To enable the detection of the `$` operator for extraction through partial matching, use `options(warnPartialMatchDollar = TRUE)`.
 * `unnecessary_nested_if_linter()` is deprecated and subsumed into the new/more general `unnecessary_nesting_linter()`.
 * Drop support for posting GitHub comments from inside GitHub comment bot, Travis, Wercker, and Jenkins CI tools (spurred by #2148, @MichaelChirico). We rely on GitHub Actions for linting in CI, and don't see any active users relying on these alternatives. We welcome and encourage community contributions to get support for different CI system going again.
+* `cyclocomp_linter()` is no longer part of the default linters (#2555, @IndrajeetPatil) because the tidyverse style guide doesn't contain any guidelines on meeting certain complexity requirements. Note that users with `cyclocomp_linter()` in their configs may now need to install {cyclocomp} intentionally, in particular in CI/CD pipelines.
 
 ## Bug fixes
 
diff --git a/R/cyclocomp_linter.R b/R/cyclocomp_linter.R
index c5563646f2..5a64156bd1 100644
--- a/R/cyclocomp_linter.R
+++ b/R/cyclocomp_linter.R
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 #' Cyclomatic complexity linter
 #'
-#' Check for overly complicated expressions. See [cyclocomp::cyclocomp()].
+#' Check for overly complicated expressions. See `cyclocomp()` function from `{cyclocomp}`.
 #'
-#' @param complexity_limit Maximum cyclomatic complexity, default 15. Expressions more complex
-#' than this are linted. See [cyclocomp::cyclocomp()].
+#' @param complexity_limit Maximum cyclomatic complexity, default `15`. Expressions more complex
+#' than this are linted.
 #'
-#' @examples
+#' @examplesIf requireNamespace("cyclocomp", quietly = TRUE)
 #' # will produce lints
 #' lint(
 #'   text = "if (TRUE) 1 else 2",
@@ -23,6 +23,15 @@
 #' @export
 cyclocomp_linter <- function(complexity_limit = 15L) {
   Linter(linter_level = "expression", function(source_expression) {
+    # nocov start
+    if (!requireNamespace("cyclocomp", quietly = TRUE)) {
+      cli::cli_abort(c(
+        "Cyclocomp complexity is computed using {.fn cyclocomp::cyclocomp}.",
+        i = "Please install the needed {.pkg cyclocomp} package."
+      ))
+    }
+    # nocov end
+
     complexity <- try_silently(
       cyclocomp::cyclocomp(parse(text = source_expression$content))
     )
diff --git a/R/lintr-package.R b/R/lintr-package.R
index 898db1445b..1195e61376 100644
--- a/R/lintr-package.R
+++ b/R/lintr-package.R
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 "_PACKAGE"
 
 ## lintr namespace: start
-#' @importFrom cyclocomp cyclocomp
 #' @importFrom glue glue glue_collapse
 #' @importFrom rex rex regex re_matches re_substitutes character_class
 #' @importFrom stats na.omit
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index a135938a82..2915392974 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ default_linters <- modify_defaults(
   brace_linter(),
   commas_linter(),
   commented_code_linter(),
-  cyclocomp_linter(),
   equals_na_linter(),
   function_left_parentheses_linter(),
   indentation_linter(),
diff --git a/inst/lintr/linters.csv b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
index f6d6147750..539cdbc984 100644
--- a/inst/lintr/linters.csv
+++ b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ conjunct_test_linter,package_development best_practices readability configurable
 consecutive_assertion_linter,style readability consistency
 consecutive_mutate_linter,consistency readability configurable efficiency
 consecutive_stopifnot_linter,style readability consistency deprecated
-cyclocomp_linter,style readability best_practices default configurable
+cyclocomp_linter,style readability best_practices configurable
 duplicate_argument_linter,correctness common_mistakes configurable
 empty_assignment_linter,readability best_practices
 equals_na_linter,robustness correctness common_mistakes default
diff --git a/man/cyclocomp_linter.Rd b/man/cyclocomp_linter.Rd
index 59a376cdfa..93d42f905a 100644
--- a/man/cyclocomp_linter.Rd
+++ b/man/cyclocomp_linter.Rd
@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@
 cyclocomp_linter(complexity_limit = 15L)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{complexity_limit}{Maximum cyclomatic complexity, default 15. Expressions more complex
-than this are linted. See \code{\link[cyclocomp:cyclocomp]{cyclocomp::cyclocomp()}}.}
+\item{complexity_limit}{Maximum cyclomatic complexity, default \code{15}. Expressions more complex
+than this are linted.}
 }
 \description{
-Check for overly complicated expressions. See \code{\link[cyclocomp:cyclocomp]{cyclocomp::cyclocomp()}}.
+Check for overly complicated expressions. See \code{cyclocomp()} function from \code{{cyclocomp}}.
 }
 \examples{
+\dontshow{if (requireNamespace("cyclocomp", quietly = TRUE)) (if (getRversion() >= "3.4") withAutoprint else force)(\{ # examplesIf}
 # will produce lints
 lint(
   text = "if (TRUE) 1 else 2",
@@ -25,11 +26,11 @@ lint(
   text = "if (TRUE) 1 else 2",
   linters = cyclocomp_linter(complexity_limit = 2L)
 )
-
+\dontshow{\}) # examplesIf}
 }
 \seealso{
 \link{linters} for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
 }
 \section{Tags}{
-\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=configurable_linters]{configurable}, \link[=default_linters]{default}, \link[=readability_linters]{readability}, \link[=style_linters]{style}
+\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=configurable_linters]{configurable}, \link[=readability_linters]{readability}, \link[=style_linters]{style}
 }
diff --git a/man/default_linters.Rd b/man/default_linters.Rd
index f14177a9ac..cdaa763c7b 100644
--- a/man/default_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/default_linters.Rd
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 \alias{default_linters}
 \title{Default linters}
 \format{
-An object of class \code{list} of length 26.
+An object of class \code{list} of length 25.
 }
 \usage{
 default_linters
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'default':
 \item{\code{\link{brace_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{commas_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{commented_code_linter}}}
-\item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{equals_na_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{function_left_parentheses_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{indentation_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/linters.Rd b/man/linters.Rd
index 10c45d3746..d2ba40da16 100644
--- a/man/linters.Rd
+++ b/man/linters.Rd
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ The following tags exist:
 \item{\link[=configurable_linters]{configurable} (43 linters)}
 \item{\link[=consistency_linters]{consistency} (32 linters)}
 \item{\link[=correctness_linters]{correctness} (7 linters)}
-\item{\link[=default_linters]{default} (26 linters)}
+\item{\link[=default_linters]{default} (25 linters)}
 \item{\link[=deprecated_linters]{deprecated} (6 linters)}
 \item{\link[=efficiency_linters]{efficiency} (32 linters)}
 \item{\link[=executing_linters]{executing} (6 linters)}
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ The following linters exist:
 \item{\code{\link{conjunct_test_linter}} (tags: best_practices, configurable, package_development, pkg_testthat, readability)}
 \item{\code{\link{consecutive_assertion_linter}} (tags: consistency, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{consecutive_mutate_linter}} (tags: configurable, consistency, efficiency, readability)}
-\item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}} (tags: best_practices, configurable, default, readability, style)}
+\item{\code{\link{cyclocomp_linter}} (tags: best_practices, configurable, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{duplicate_argument_linter}} (tags: common_mistakes, configurable, correctness)}
 \item{\code{\link{empty_assignment_linter}} (tags: best_practices, readability)}
 \item{\code{\link{equals_na_linter}} (tags: common_mistakes, correctness, default, robustness)}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/default_linter_testcode.R b/tests/testthat/default_linter_testcode.R
index 1f9f060d6c..1cadc18cc3 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/default_linter_testcode.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/default_linter_testcode.R
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ g <- function(x) {
 # commented_code
 # some <- commented("out code")
 
-# cyclocomp
 # equals_na
 # brace_linter
 # indentation
diff --git a/tests/testthat/dummy_projects/project/default_linter_testcode.R b/tests/testthat/dummy_projects/project/default_linter_testcode.R
index ba87313b30..3098b0b025 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/dummy_projects/project/default_linter_testcode.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/dummy_projects/project/default_linter_testcode.R
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ f = function (x,y = 1){}
 # commented_code
 # some <- commented("out code")
 
-# cyclocomp
 # equals_na
 # infix_spaces
 # line_length
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-cache.R b/tests/testthat/test-cache.R
index 6b0c47aa1d..62a0ed32c6 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-cache.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-cache.R
@@ -435,15 +435,16 @@ test_that("it works outside of a package", {
 
 test_that("cache = TRUE workflow works", {
   # Need a test structure with a safe to load .lintr
-  pkg <- "dummy_packages/package"
-  files <- normalizePath(list.files(pkg, recursive = TRUE, full.names = TRUE))
+  withr::local_dir(file.path("dummy_packages", "package"))
+  withr::local_options(lintr.linter_file = "lintr_test_config")
+  files <- normalizePath(list.files(recursive = TRUE, full.names = TRUE))
 
   # Manually clear cache (that function is exported)
   for (f in files) {
     clear_cache(file = f)
   }
-  l1 <- lint_package(pkg, cache = TRUE)
-  l2 <- lint_package(pkg, cache = TRUE)
+  l1 <- lint_package(cache = TRUE)
+  l2 <- lint_package(cache = TRUE)
   expect_identical(l1, l2)
 })
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-cyclocomp_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-cyclocomp_linter.R
index 4f2b463f70..5e14b56801 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-cyclocomp_linter.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-cyclocomp_linter.R
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 test_that("returns the correct linting", {
+  skip_if_not_installed("cyclocomp")
+
   cc_linter_1 <- cyclocomp_linter(1L)
   cc_linter_2 <- cyclocomp_linter(2L)
   lint_msg <- rex::rex("Reduce the cyclomatic complexity of this function")
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-get_source_expressions.R b/tests/testthat/test-get_source_expressions.R
index dbacecacce..b12fb1b664 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-get_source_expressions.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-get_source_expressions.R
@@ -418,6 +418,9 @@ patrick::with_parameters_test_that(
       # otherwise we test the trivial linter (#2339)
       linter <- backport_linter(r_version = "3.6.0")
     } else {
+      if (linter == "cyclocomp_linter") {
+        skip_if_not_installed("cyclocomp")
+      }
       linter <- eval(call(linter))
     }
     expression <- expressions[[expression_idx]]