diff --git a/eng/Versions.props b/eng/Versions.props
index 1cb835aaf530ea4997ecf9e1ba0fdf41caf2f173..8da4fae40db574ee684a6b72ac7b977e38f2c23b 100644
--- a/eng/Versions.props
+++ b/eng/Versions.props
@@ -7,12 +7,17 @@
     <MinorVersion>0</MinorVersion>
     <PatchVersion>0</PatchVersion>
     <SdkBandVersion>8.0.100</SdkBandVersion>
-    <PackageVersionNet7>7.0.3</PackageVersionNet7>
+    <!-- note: when bumping previous package versions on a release branch, make sure to
+               set $(WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions)=false, so those manifests won't be installed
+               during testing. -->
+    <PackageVersionNet7>7.0.4</PackageVersionNet7>
     <PackageVersionNet6>6.0.$([MSBuild]::Add($([System.Version]::Parse('$(PackageVersionNet7)').Build),11))</PackageVersionNet6>
     <PreReleaseVersionLabel>preview</PreReleaseVersionLabel>
     <PreReleaseVersionIteration>2</PreReleaseVersionIteration>
     <WorkloadVersionSuffix Condition="'$(PreReleaseVersionLabel)' != 'release'">-$(PreReleaseVersionLabel).$(PreReleaseVersionIteration)</WorkloadVersionSuffix>
     <SdkBandVersionForWorkload_FromRuntimeVersions>$(SdkBandVersion)$(WorkloadVersionSuffix)</SdkBandVersionForWorkload_FromRuntimeVersions>
+    <!-- set to false for release branches -->
+    <WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions Condition="'$(WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions)' == ''">false</WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions>
     <!-- Set assembly version to align with major and minor version,
          as for the patches and revisions should be manually updated per assembly if it is serviced. -->
     <AssemblyVersion>$(MajorVersion).$(MinorVersion).0.0</AssemblyVersion>
diff --git a/eng/pipelines/common/templates/wasm-build-tests.yml b/eng/pipelines/common/templates/wasm-build-tests.yml
index ff35e117583be48401c892f8860b5f05ca1d602c..28f5838466dc2a5500a87ae8652000dcdae75f3b 100644
--- a/eng/pipelines/common/templates/wasm-build-tests.yml
+++ b/eng/pipelines/common/templates/wasm-build-tests.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ jobs:
       # map dependencies variables to local variables
       - name: alwaysRunVar
         value: ${{ parameters.alwaysRun }}
+      - name: workloadsTestPreviousVersionsVar
+        value: $[
+          or(
+            eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'main'),
+            eq(variables['System.PullRequest.TargetBranch'], 'main'))
+          ]
       - name: shouldRunOnDefaultPipelines
         value: $[
           or(
@@ -32,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
       isExtraPlatforms: ${{ parameters.isExtraPlatformsBuild }}
       testGroup: innerloop
       nameSuffix: WasmBuildTests
-      buildArgs: -s mono+libs+host+packs+libs.tests -c $(_BuildConfig) /p:ArchiveTests=true /p:TestWasmBuildTests=true /p:TestAssemblies=false /p:BrowserHost=$(_hostedOs)
+      buildArgs: -s mono+libs+host+packs+libs.tests -c $(_BuildConfig) /p:ArchiveTests=true /p:TestWasmBuildTests=true /p:TestAssemblies=false /p:BrowserHost=$(_hostedOs) /p:WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions=$(workloadsTestPreviousVersionsVar)
       timeoutInMinutes: 180
       condition: >-
         or(
diff --git a/eng/testing/tests.browser.targets b/eng/testing/tests.browser.targets
index 849a12e96a83b4bf9e2b16dfd37c87e92399efa7..6ebd558014a6f3d630ed34b11ba9024b894d5d4f 100644
--- a/eng/testing/tests.browser.targets
+++ b/eng/testing/tests.browser.targets
@@ -227,17 +227,19 @@
       <WorkloadIdForTesting Include="wasm-tools-net7;wasm-experimental-net7"
                             ManifestName="Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.ToolChain.net7"
                             Variant="net7"
-                            Version="$(PackageVersionForWorkloadManifests)" />
+                            Version="$(PackageVersionForWorkloadManifests)"
+                            Condition="'$(WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions)' == 'true'" />
 
       <WorkloadIdForTesting Include="wasm-tools-net6"
                             ManifestName="Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.ToolChain.net6"
                             Variant="net6"
                             Version="$(PackageVersionForWorkloadManifests)"
-                            IgnoreErrors="$(WasmIgnoreNet6WorkloadInstallErrors)" />
+                            IgnoreErrors="$(WasmIgnoreNet6WorkloadInstallErrors)"
+                            Condition="'$(WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions)' == 'true'" />
 
-      <WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="latest"   Variants="latest" />
-      <WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="net7"     Variants="net7" />
-      <WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="net7+latest"   Variants="net7;latest" />
+      <WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="latest"        Variants="latest" />
+      <WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="net7"          Variants="net7" Condition="'$(WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions)' == 'true'" />
+      <WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="net7+latest"   Variants="net7;latest" Condition="'$(WorkloadsTestPreviousVersions)' == 'true'" />
       <!--<WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="net6"     Variants="net6" />-->
       <!--<WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="net6+7"   Variants="net6;net7" />-->
       <!--<WorkloadCombinationsToInstall Include="none" />-->
diff --git a/src/libraries/Directory.Build.props b/src/libraries/Directory.Build.props
index 3086bd2d3043db1470d762c26530a30f1cac9ba2..f5c03d347e4055709838a2f0329b8ab6cbf77423 100644
--- a/src/libraries/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/src/libraries/Directory.Build.props
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
     <SdkWithNoWorkloadStampPath>$(SdkWithNoWorkloadForTestingPath)version-$(SdkVersionForWorkloadTesting).stamp</SdkWithNoWorkloadStampPath>
     <SdkWithNoWorkload_WorkloadStampPath>$(SdkWithNoWorkloadForTestingPath)workload.stamp</SdkWithNoWorkload_WorkloadStampPath>
 
-    <SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath Condition="'$(TargetOS)' == 'browser'">$(ArtifactsBinDir)dotnet-net7+latest\</SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath>
+    <SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath Condition="'$(TargetOS)' == 'browser'">$(ArtifactsBinDir)dotnet-latest\</SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath>
     <SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath Condition="'$(TargetOS)' == 'wasi'">$(ArtifactsBinDir)dotnet-latest\</SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath>
     <SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath Condition="'$(SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath)' != ''">$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath)))</SdkWithWorkloadForTestingPath>
 
diff --git a/src/libraries/sendtohelixhelp.proj b/src/libraries/sendtohelixhelp.proj
index e51814d79097812957519446b81f9e1e3b3dce6e..ee53ea89b53fd57e642f49e874d6872ed9d4e7c2 100644
--- a/src/libraries/sendtohelixhelp.proj
+++ b/src/libraries/sendtohelixhelp.proj
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
 
     <FailOnTestFailure Condition="'$(FailOnTestFailure)' == '' and '$(WaitForWorkItemCompletion)' != ''">$(WaitForWorkItemCompletion)</FailOnTestFailure>
 
-    <SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName Condition="'$(SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName)' == '' and '$(NeedsWorkload)' == 'true' and '$(TestUsingWorkloads)' == 'true'">dotnet-net7+latest</SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName>
+    <SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName Condition="'$(SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName)' == '' and '$(NeedsWorkload)' == 'true' and '$(TestUsingWorkloads)' == 'true'">dotnet-latest</SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName>
     <SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName Condition="'$(SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName)' == '' and '$(NeedsWorkload)' == 'true' and '$(TestUsingWorkloads)' != 'true'">dotnet-none</SdkForWorkloadTestingDirName>
   </PropertyGroup>