diff --git a/src/Workspaces/CoreTestUtilities/Resources/ProjectFiles/CSharp/ReferencesPortableProject.csproj b/src/Workspaces/CoreTestUtilities/Resources/ProjectFiles/CSharp/ReferencesPortableProject.csproj
index 5f92dbf537cd2fa3d4b39220d8d5b30e22ad11bf..5f51b775bc4005f39eb672fa892a62d607daadc7 100644
--- a/src/Workspaces/CoreTestUtilities/Resources/ProjectFiles/CSharp/ReferencesPortableProject.csproj
+++ b/src/Workspaces/CoreTestUtilities/Resources/ProjectFiles/CSharp/ReferencesPortableProject.csproj
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
     <AppDesignerFolder>Properties</AppDesignerFolder>
     <RootNamespace>Bug2824</RootNamespace>
     <AssemblyName>Bug2824</AssemblyName>
-    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.7.2</TargetFrameworkVersion>
+    <TargetFrameworkVersion>v4.6.1</TargetFrameworkVersion>
     <FileAlignment>512</FileAlignment>
     <AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>true</AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>
   </PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTestBase.cs b/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTestBase.cs
index eff911d4f85ae4baccae881b98e959e914f48f28..63348a5de010ef90224e7b4399fc00790c289139 100644
--- a/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTestBase.cs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Host;
 using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.UnitTests;
 using Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.UnitTests.TestFiles;
+using Roslyn.Test.Utilities;
 using Xunit;
 using static Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.MSBuild.UnitTests.SolutionGeneration;
 using CS = Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp;
@@ -19,6 +20,11 @@ public class MSBuildWorkspaceTestBase : WorkspaceTestBase
     {
         protected const string MSBuildNamespace = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003";
 
+        protected void AssertFailures(MSBuildWorkspace workspace, params string[] expectedFailures)
+        {
+            AssertEx.Equal(expectedFailures, workspace.Diagnostics.Where(d => d.Kind == WorkspaceDiagnosticKind.Failure).Select(d => d.Message));
+        }
+
         protected async Task AssertCSCompilationOptionsAsync<T>(T expected, Func<CS.CSharpCompilationOptions, T> actual)
         {
             var options = await LoadCSharpCompilationOptionsAsync();
diff --git a/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTests.cs b/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTests.cs
index 7a1433f11052df99ad1d39642f2def7909b102b0..fe5cea618108ef51e3e3fa5b6c93b4d15543ddeb 100644
--- a/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTests.cs
+++ b/src/Workspaces/MSBuildTest/MSBuildWorkspaceTests.cs
@@ -107,8 +107,11 @@ public async Task Test_OpenProjectReferencingPortableProject()
             using (var workspace = CreateMSBuildWorkspace())
             {
                 var project = await workspace.OpenProjectAsync(projectFilePath);
+                AssertFailures(workspace);
+
                 var hasFacades = project.MetadataReferences.OfType<PortableExecutableReference>().Any(r => r.FilePath.Contains("Facade"));
-                Assert.True(hasFacades);
+                Assert.True(hasFacades, userMessage: "Expected to find facades in the project references:" + Environment.NewLine + 
+                    string.Join(Environment.NewLine, project.MetadataReferences.OfType<PortableExecutableReference>().Select(r => r.FilePath)));
             }
         }