External modules with AMD always requires "exports" even when it is not used

Here's a small external module that explicitly exports a module:

module Foo {
    export var foo = 42;
}
export = Foo;

The code generated for this is:

define(["require", "exports"], function(require, exports) {
    var Foo;
    (function (Foo) {
        Foo.foo = 42;
    })(Foo || (Foo = {}));

    return Foo;
});

This feels like bad AMD since you are requiring the "exports" magic dependency, but then not using it and instead returning Foo directly.

It's annoying for minimal AMD loaders since they can't assume the object return of your module is your "exports" object and have to guess that you really meant to return something that overrode the "exports" object you asked for.

Furthermore, why bother declaring a dependency on 'require' when it's not used?

Start by reproducing the issue from the TypeScript example and comparing the generated AMD output. Inspect the compiler's AMD external-module emission path and its regression tests, if present. Done means unused "require" and "exports" dependencies are not emitted while the returned module value remains correct.