diff --git a/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks.Core/Tasks/MmpTaskBase.cs b/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks.Core/Tasks/MmpTaskBase.cs
index c0854551bcf1..305e5d5dbb99 100644
--- a/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks.Core/Tasks/MmpTaskBase.cs
+++ b/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks.Core/Tasks/MmpTaskBase.cs
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ protected override string ToolName {
 		public string I18n { get; set; }
 		public string ExtraArguments { get; set; }
 
-		public string AotScope { get; set; }
-		public bool HybridAotOption { get; set; }
+		public string AotMode { get; set; }
+		public bool HybridAOT { get; set; }
 		public string ExplicitAotAssemblies { get; set; }
 
 		public ITaskItem [] ExplicitReferences { get; set; }
@@ -176,9 +176,9 @@ protected override string GenerateCommandLineCommands ()
 				break;
 			}
 
-			if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty (AotScope) && AotScope != "None") {
-				var aot = $"--aot:{AotScope.ToLower ()}";
-				if (HybridAotOption)
+			if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty (AotMode) && AotMode != "None") {
+				var aot = $"--aot:{AotMode.ToLower ()}";
+				if (HybridAOT)
 					aot += "|hybrid";
 
 				if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty (ExplicitAotAssemblies))
diff --git a/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks/Xamarin.Mac.Common.targets b/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks/Xamarin.Mac.Common.targets
index dd5549d90028..b21131d55262 100644
--- a/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks/Xamarin.Mac.Common.targets
+++ b/msbuild/Xamarin.Mac.Tasks/Xamarin.Mac.Common.targets
@@ -556,8 +556,8 @@ Copyright (C) 2014 Xamarin. All rights reserved.
 			SdkVersion="$(MacOSXSdkVersion)"
 			IsAppExtension="$(IsAppExtension)"
 			EnableSGenConc="$(EnableSGenConc)"
-			AotScope="$(AotScope)"
-			HybridAotOption="$(HybridAotOption)"
+			AotMode="$(AOTMode)"
+			HybridAOT="$(HybridAOT)"
 			ExplicitAotAssemblies="$(ExplicitAotAssemblies)">
 			<Output TaskParameter="NativeLibraries" ItemName="_NativeLibrary" />
 		</Mmp>
diff --git a/tests/mmptest/src/AOTTests.cs b/tests/mmptest/src/AOTTests.cs
index 21980b60bb7f..17af0f3a1936 100644
--- a/tests/mmptest/src/AOTTests.cs
+++ b/tests/mmptest/src/AOTTests.cs
@@ -21,22 +21,42 @@ void ValidateAOTStatus (string tmpDir, Func<FileInfo, bool> shouldAOT, string bu
 			}
 		}
 
-		const string AOTTestBaseConfig = "<MonoBundlingExtraArgs>--aot=core,-Xamarin.Mac.dll</MonoBundlingExtraArgs>";
-		const string AOTTestHybridConfig = "<MonoBundlingExtraArgs>--aot=all|hybrid</MonoBundlingExtraArgs>";
+		enum TestType { Base, Hybrid }
+
+		string GetTestConfig (TestType type, bool useProjectTags)
+		{
+			if (useProjectTags) {
+				switch (type) {
+				case TestType.Base:
+					return "<AOTMode>Core</AOTMode>";
+				case TestType.Hybrid:
+					return "<AOTMode>All</AOTMode><HybridAOT>true</HybridAOT>";
+				}
+			} else {
+				switch (type) {
+				case TestType.Base:
+					return "<MonoBundlingExtraArgs>--aot=core</MonoBundlingExtraArgs>";
+				case TestType.Hybrid:
+					return "<MonoBundlingExtraArgs>--aot=all|hybrid</MonoBundlingExtraArgs>";
+				}
+			}
+			throw new NotImplementedException ();
+		}
 
 		DirectoryInfo GetOutputDirInfo (string tmpDir) => new DirectoryInfo (Path.Combine (tmpDir, GetOutputBundlePath (tmpDir)));
 		string GetOutputAppPath (string tmpDir) => Path.Combine (tmpDir, "bin/Debug/UnifiedExample.app/Contents/MacOS/UnifiedExample");
 		string GetOutputBundlePath (string tmpDir) => Path.Combine (tmpDir, "bin/Debug/UnifiedExample.app/Contents/MonoBundle");
 
 		bool IsFileManagedCode (FileInfo file) => file.Extension.ToLowerInvariant () == ".exe" || file.Extension.ToLowerInvariant () == ".dll";
-		bool ShouldBaseFilesBeAOT (FileInfo file) => file.Name == "System.dll" || file.Name == "mscorlib.dll";
+		bool ShouldBaseFilesBeAOT (FileInfo file) => file.Name == "Xamarin.Mac.dll" || file.Name == "System.dll" || file.Name == "mscorlib.dll";
 
 		// AOT unit tests can be found in tools/mmp/tests
-		[Test]
-		public void AOT_SmokeTest () {
+		[TestCase (false)]
+		[TestCase (true)]
+		public void AOT_SmokeTest (bool useProjectTags) {
 			RunMMPTest (tmpDir => {
 				TI.UnifiedTestConfig test = new TI.UnifiedTestConfig (tmpDir) {
-					CSProjConfig = AOTTestBaseConfig
+					CSProjConfig = GetTestConfig (TestType.Base, useProjectTags)
 				};
 				string buildResults = TI.TestUnifiedExecutable (test).BuildOutput;
 
@@ -44,12 +64,13 @@ public void AOT_SmokeTest () {
 			});
 		}
 
-		[Test]
-		public void AOT_32Bit_SmokeTest ()
+		[TestCase (false)]
+		[TestCase (true)]
+		public void AOT_32Bit_SmokeTest (bool useProjectTags)
 		{
 			RunMMPTest (tmpDir => {
 				TI.UnifiedTestConfig test = new TI.UnifiedTestConfig (tmpDir) {
-					CSProjConfig = "<XamMacArch>i386</XamMacArch>" + AOTTestBaseConfig
+					CSProjConfig = "<XamMacArch>i386</XamMacArch>" + GetTestConfig (TestType.Base, useProjectTags)
 				};
 				string buildResults = TI.TestUnifiedExecutable (test).BuildOutput;
 
@@ -57,12 +78,13 @@ public void AOT_32Bit_SmokeTest ()
 			});
 		}
 
-		[Test]
-		public void HybridAOT_WithManualStrippingOfAllLibs_SmokeTest ()
+		[TestCase (false)]
+		[TestCase (true)]
+		public void HybridAOT_WithManualStrippingOfAllLibs_SmokeTest (bool useProjectTags)
 		{
 			RunMMPTest (tmpDir => {
 				TI.UnifiedTestConfig test = new TI.UnifiedTestConfig (tmpDir) {
-					CSProjConfig = AOTTestHybridConfig
+					CSProjConfig = GetTestConfig (TestType.Hybrid, useProjectTags)
 				};
 				string buildResults = TI.TestUnifiedExecutable (test).BuildOutput;
 
@@ -78,12 +100,13 @@ public void HybridAOT_WithManualStrippingOfAllLibs_SmokeTest ()
 			});
 		}
 
-		[Test]
-		public void HybridAOT_WithManualStrippingOfJustMainExe ()
+		[TestCase (false)]
+		[TestCase (true)]
+		public void HybridAOT_WithManualStrippingOfJustMainExe (bool useProjectTags)
 		{
 			RunMMPTest (tmpDir => {
 				TI.UnifiedTestConfig test = new TI.UnifiedTestConfig (tmpDir) {
-					CSProjConfig = AOTTestHybridConfig
+					CSProjConfig = GetTestConfig (TestType.Hybrid, useProjectTags)
 				};
 				string buildResults = TI.TestUnifiedExecutable (test).BuildOutput;