Missing referenced script in game object loaded from asset bundle

I have a very simple Unity project containing one prefab. This prefab just contains a sphere with a custom monobehaviour attached to it.

I want to put this prefab in an asset bundle which I build using the following code:

Object sphere = AssetDatabase.LoadMainAssetAtPath("Assets\Bundle2\Sphere.prefab"); BuildPipeline.BuildAssetBundle(sphere , null, "Assets\bundle2.unity3d", BuildAssetBundleOptions.CompleteAssets);

Note that I don't use BuildAssetBundleOptions.CollectDependencies because I don't want all the dependencies to be pulled in my asset bundle.

When I then load the asset bundle I get the following error message:

The referenced script on this Behaviour is missing! UnityEngine.AssetBundle:LoadAll(Type)

If I rebuild the asset bundle with the CollecDependencies option everything works fine.

I don't understand why CollectDependencies is required to make my script work. From what I understand script components are just references to classes defined in the main assembly.

Am I misunderstanding how asset bundles work?

Thanks,

Clem