diff --git a/src/Layout/redist/minimumMSBuildVersion b/src/Layout/redist/minimumMSBuildVersion
index d9a8a3578858..28ebe8b4dbed 100644
--- a/src/Layout/redist/minimumMSBuildVersion
+++ b/src/Layout/redist/minimumMSBuildVersion
@@ -1 +1 @@
-16.3.0
+16.5.0
diff --git a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/ResolveTargetingPackAssets.cs b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/ResolveTargetingPackAssets.cs
index f077857129d9..88886c73c20d 100644
--- a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/ResolveTargetingPackAssets.cs
+++ b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/ResolveTargetingPackAssets.cs
@@ -81,6 +81,14 @@ protected override void ExecuteCore()
                         string targetingPackDataPath = Path.Combine(targetingPackRoot, "data");
 
                         string targetingPackDllFolder = Path.Combine(targetingPackRoot, "ref", targetingPackTargetFramework);
+                        
+                        //  Fall back to netcoreapp5.0 folder if looking for net5.0 and it's not found
+                        if (!Directory.Exists(targetingPackDllFolder) &&
+                            targetingPackTargetFramework.Equals("net5.0", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                        {
+                            targetingPackTargetFramework = "netcoreapp5.0";
+                            targetingPackDllFolder = Path.Combine(targetingPackRoot, "ref", targetingPackTargetFramework);
+                        }
 
                         string platformManifestPath = Path.Combine(targetingPackDataPath, "PlatformManifest.txt");
 
diff --git a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/targets/Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/targets/Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets
index 36363867efa1..89b0ae511947 100644
--- a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/targets/Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets
+++ b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks/targets/Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets
@@ -49,13 +49,6 @@ Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
    <_ShortFrameworkVersion>$(TargetFramework.Substring($(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier.Length)))</_ShortFrameworkVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
-  <!-- Map short name to long name. See earlier comment for example of how to work with identifiers that are not recognized here. -->
-  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == ''">
-    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'netstandard'">.NETStandard</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
-    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'netcoreapp'">.NETCoreApp</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
-    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'net'">.NETFramework</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
-  </PropertyGroup>
-
   <!-- Versions with dots are taken as is and just given leading 'v'. -->
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkVersion)' == '' and '$(_ShortFrameworkVersion)' != '' and $(_ShortFrameworkVersion.Contains('.'))">
     <TargetFrameworkVersion>v$(_ShortFrameworkVersion)</TargetFrameworkVersion>
@@ -67,6 +60,20 @@ Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
     <TargetFrameworkVersion Condition="$(_ShortFrameworkVersion.Length) == 2">v$(_ShortFrameworkVersion[0]).$(_ShortFrameworkVersion[1])</TargetFrameworkVersion>
     <TargetFrameworkVersion Condition="$(_ShortFrameworkVersion.Length) == 3">v$(_ShortFrameworkVersion[0]).$(_ShortFrameworkVersion[1]).$(_ShortFrameworkVersion[2])</TargetFrameworkVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  
+  <!-- Map short name to long name. See earlier comment for example of how to work with identifiers that are not recognized here. -->
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == ''">
+    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'netstandard'">.NETStandard</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
+    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'netcoreapp'">.NETCoreApp</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
+    
+    <!-- The meaning of "net" as a short framework name depends on the version.  If it's 4.x or less, it means .NETFramework.
+         If the version is 5.0 or higher, then "net" means .NET 5.0 and on, which is the evolution of .NET Core, and uses
+         the .NETCoreApp TargetFrameworkIdentifier. -->
+    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'net' And
+                                          $([MSBuild]::VersionLessThan($(TargetFrameworkVersion), '5.0'))">.NETFramework</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
+    <TargetFrameworkIdentifier Condition="'$(_ShortFrameworkIdentifier)' == 'net' And
+                                          $([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), '5.0'))">.NETCoreApp</TargetFrameworkIdentifier>
+  </PropertyGroup>
 
   <!-- 
     Trigger an error if we're unable to infer the framework identifier and version. 
diff --git a/src/Tests/Directory.Build.targets b/src/Tests/Directory.Build.targets
index 5aabc8d4e1c6..088b5c5ba4b1 100644
--- a/src/Tests/Directory.Build.targets
+++ b/src/Tests/Directory.Build.targets
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@
       <TestArgs>$(TestArgs) -testExecutionDirectory $(TestLocalToolExecutionFolder)</TestArgs>
     </PropertyGroup>
 
+    <!-- Run "dotnet new" (which will just display usage and available templates) in order to print first time
+         use message so that it doesn't interfere with tests which check the output of commands. -->
+    <Exec Command="$(ArtifactsBinDir)redist\$(Configuration)\dotnet\dotnet new" />
+
     <Exec Command="dotnet tool run $(ToolCommandName) -- $(TestArgs)"
           WorkingDirectory="$(TestLocalToolFolder)"
           EnvironmentVariables="DOTNET_CLI_HOME=$(DOTNET_CLI_HOME)"
diff --git a/src/Tests/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tests/Net50Targeting.cs b/src/Tests/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tests/Net50Targeting.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..01f54ac8acc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Tests/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tests/Net50Targeting.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using FluentAssertions;
+using Microsoft.NET.TestFramework;
+using Microsoft.NET.TestFramework.Assertions;
+using Microsoft.NET.TestFramework.Commands;
+using Microsoft.NET.TestFramework.ProjectConstruction;
+using Xunit;
+using Xunit.Abstractions;
+
+namespace Microsoft.NET.Build.Tests
+{
+    public class Net50Targeting : SdkTest
+    {
+        public Net50Targeting(ITestOutputHelper log) : base(log)
+        {
+        }
+
+        [Fact(Skip="Need NuGet support for net5.0 TFM")]
+        public void Net50TargetFrameworkParsesAsNetCoreAppTargetFrameworkIdentifier()
+        {
+            var testProject = new TestProject()
+            {
+                Name = "Net5Test",
+                TargetFrameworks = "net5.0",
+                IsSdkProject = true
+            };
+
+            var testAsset = _testAssetsManager.CreateTestProject(testProject, testProject.Name);
+
+            var buildCommand = new BuildCommand(Log, testAsset.TestRoot, testProject.Name);
+
+            buildCommand.Execute()
+                .Should()
+                .Pass();
+
+            var getValuesCommand = new GetValuesCommand(Log, testAsset.TestRoot, testProject.TargetFrameworks, "TargetFrameworkIdentifier");
+            getValuesCommand.Execute()
+                .Should()
+                .Pass();
+
+            getValuesCommand.GetValues().Should().BeEquivalentTo(".NETCoreApp");
+        }
+    }
+}