diff --git a/eng/Versions.props b/eng/Versions.props
index 73201502eec892145645acf8ecdb257859dc5364..e3bbfe9eb4d6845885058acc053a2b6852f11a5a 100644
--- a/eng/Versions.props
+++ b/eng/Versions.props
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     <PatchVersion>0</PatchVersion>
     <SdkBandVersion>8.0.100</SdkBandVersion>
     <PackageVersionNet6>6.0.10</PackageVersionNet6>
-    <PackageVersionNet7>7.0.0-rc.2.22458.4</PackageVersionNet7>
+    <!-- problematic until NetCoreAppCurrent is net8.0 <PackageVersionNet7>7.0.0</PackageVersionNet7> -->
     <PreReleaseVersionLabel>alpha</PreReleaseVersionLabel>
     <PreReleaseVersionIteration>1</PreReleaseVersionIteration>
     <!-- Set assembly version to align with major and minor version,
diff --git a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest.pkgproj b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest.pkgproj
index 93e177461a63c1c701fe45153c48688767d3eed1..db40bc020be6692232e1da28b708718870a5f63a 100644
--- a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest.pkgproj
+++ b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest.pkgproj
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="WorkloadVersion" Value="$(PackageVersion)" />
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersion" Value="$(PackageVersion)" />
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet6" Value="$(PackageVersionNet6)" />
-      <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet7" Value="$(PackageVersionNet7)" />
+      <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet7" Value="$(PackageVersionNet7)" Condition="'$(PackageVersionNet7)' != ''" />
+      <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet7" Value="$(PackageVersion)" Condition="'$(PackageVersionNet7)' == ''" />
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="NetCoreAppCurrent" Value="$(NetCoreAppCurrent)" />
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="EmscriptenVersion" Value="$(MicrosoftNETRuntimeEmscriptenVersion)" />
     </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in
index 51fef4e306b0ff62197db7f17866e53cd38b7c81..2e0c2631170ceb6060b72555e1efa4f832ad40b4 100644
--- a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in
+++ b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
       <TargetsNet8    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '8.0'))">true</TargetsNet8>
       <TargetsNet6    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '6.0'))">true</TargetsNet6>
       <TargetsNet7    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '7.0'))">true</TargetsNet7>
-
       <TargetsCurrent Condition="'$(TargetsNet8)' == 'true'">true</TargetsCurrent>
+
+      <!-- override WorkloadDetectionWhen net7 == net8 -->
+      <WasmNativeWorkload7 Condition="'${PackageVersionNet7}' == '${PackageVersion}'">$(WasmNativeWorkload8)</WasmNativeWorkload7>
     </PropertyGroup>
 
     <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == 'browser-wasm' and '$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp'">
diff --git a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest.pkgproj b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest.pkgproj
index 067e6c3f99e1217b38e3a619d689315e5e4965a3..18360d0fc1652a07f06838da3a84f6a19e35c0a2 100644
--- a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest.pkgproj
+++ b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.net7.Manifest.pkgproj
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@
 
     <ItemGroup>
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="WorkloadVersion" Value="$(PackageVersion)" />
-      <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet7" Value="$(PackageVersionNet7)" />
+      <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet7" Value="$(PackageVersionNet7)" Condition="'$(PackageVersionNet7)' != ''" />
+      <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="PackageVersionNet7" Value="$(PackageVersion)" Condition="'$(PackageVersionNet7)' == ''" />
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="EmscriptenVersion" Value="$(MicrosoftNETRuntimeEmscriptenVersion)" />
       <_WorkloadManifestValues Include="NetCoreAppCurrent" Value="$(NetCoreAppCurrent)" />
     </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Wasm.Build.Tests.csproj b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Wasm.Build.Tests.csproj
index 3941d5dfca1e261b40eabe13c6040321ec8d9210..7a9c16c6a34bdda045bba397fcb56f2aa064fa6a 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Wasm.Build.Tests.csproj
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Wasm.Build.Tests.csproj
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@
 
     <ItemGroup>
       <_RuntimePackVersions Include="$(PackageVersion)" EnvVarName="RUNTIME_PACK_VER8" />
-      <_RuntimePackVersions Include="$(PackageVersionNet7)" EnvVarName="RUNTIME_PACK_VER7" />
+      <_RuntimePackVersions Include="$(PackageVersionNet7)" EnvVarName="RUNTIME_PACK_VER7" Condition="'$(PackageVersionNet7)' != ''"/>
+      <_RuntimePackVersions Include="$(PackageVersion)" EnvVarName="RUNTIME_PACK_VER7" Condition="'$(PackageVersionNet7)' == ''"/>
       <_RuntimePackVersions Include="$(PackageVersionNet6)" EnvVarName="RUNTIME_PACK_VER6" />
 
       <RunScriptCommands Condition="'$(OS)' != 'Windows_NT'" Include="export %(_RuntimePackVersions.EnvVarName)=&quot;%(_RuntimePackVersions.Identity)&quot;" />