diff --git a/eng/targets/PackageDownloadAndReference.targets b/eng/targets/PackageDownloadAndReference.targets
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1587536ea13b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eng/targets/PackageDownloadAndReference.targets
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+<Project>
+
+  <!--
+  Based on https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/blob/9893d145ebb61ae592afa1a64baa2f6f094b1f6b/eng/PackageDownloadAndReference.targets
+  
+  These file supports using PackageDownloadAndReference items.
+
+  The PackageDownloadAndReference item is used to download a package and reference it in the project, without restoring the package's dependency closure.
+
+  When using PackageDownloadAndReference you are responsible for selecting the correct assets from the package and ensuring that the package and it's
+  dependencies are available at runtime.
+
+  The PackageDownloadAndReference item has the following metadata:
+    - Folder: The folder in the package where the assembly is located.
+    - AssemblyName: The name of the assembly to reference.
+    - Private: Whether the reference should be private (copied to the output directory) or not. Default is false.
+
+  A common use case for PackageDownloadAndReference is to reference assemblies provided by MSBuild or the .NET SDK.
+  -->
+
+  <ItemDefinitionGroup>
+    <PackageDownloadAndReference>
+      <Folder>lib/$(TargetFramework)</Folder>
+      <Private>false</Private>
+    </PackageDownloadAndReference>
+  </ItemDefinitionGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageDownload Include="@(PackageDownloadAndReference)" />
+    <PackageDownload Update="@(PackageDownloadAndReference)" Version="[%(Version)]"/>
+    <PackageDownloadAndReference Update="@(PackageDownloadAndReference)" PackageFolder="$([System.String]::new(%(Identity)).ToLowerInvariant())" AssemblyName="%(Identity)" />
+    <Reference Include="@(PackageDownloadAndReference->'$(NuGetPackageRoot)%(PackageFolder)/%(Version)/%(Folder)/%(AssemblyName).dll')" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+</Project>
diff --git a/src/Workspaces/Core/MSBuild.BuildHost/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.MSBuild.BuildHost.csproj b/src/Workspaces/Core/MSBuild.BuildHost/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.MSBuild.BuildHost.csproj
index 5f057a9af8da1..96805e041d8cb 100644
--- a/src/Workspaces/Core/MSBuild.BuildHost/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.MSBuild.BuildHost.csproj
+++ b/src/Workspaces/Core/MSBuild.BuildHost/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.MSBuild.BuildHost.csproj
@@ -21,16 +21,28 @@
          -->
     <PlatformTarget>AnyCPU</PlatformTarget>
     <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
+
+    <!--
+      We specifically reference Microsoft.Build 17.3.4, since it's the oldest version still compatible $(NetRoslynBuildHostNetCoreVersion).
+      The version targeted is only used for build time, since we use MSBuildLocator to discover the proper version at runtime.
+    -->
+    <_MsbuildVersion>17.3.4</_MsbuildVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(DotNetBuildSourceOnly)' == 'true'">
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build" VersionOverride="$(_MsbuildVersion)" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" PrivateAssets="All" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Framework" VersionOverride="$(_MsbuildVersion)" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Core" VersionOverride="$(_MsbuildVersion)" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" PrivateAssets="All" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core" VersionOverride="$(_MsbuildVersion)" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" PrivateAssets="All" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(DotNetBuildSourceOnly)' != 'true'">
+    <!-- Reference MSBuild directly to avoid redistributing its package closure and including the dependencies in deps.json file. -->
+    <PackageDownloadAndReference Include="Microsoft.Build" Version="$(_MsbuildVersion)" Folder="ref/$(TargetFramework)" />
+    <PackageDownloadAndReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Framework" Version="$(_MsbuildVersion)" Folder="ref/$(TargetFramework)" />
+    <PackageDownloadAndReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Core" Version="$(_MsbuildVersion)" Folder="ref/$(TargetFramework)" />
+    <PackageDownloadAndReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core" Version="$(_MsbuildVersion)" Folder="ref/$(TargetFramework)" />
+  </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <!-- We specifically reference Microsoft.Build 17.3.4, since it's the oldest version still compatible net6.0. The version targeted is only used for build time, since
-         we use MSBuildLocator to discover the proper version at runtime. -->
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build" VersionOverride="17.3.4" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" PrivateAssets="All" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Framework" VersionOverride="17.3.4" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Core" VersionOverride="17.3.4" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" PrivateAssets="All" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core" VersionOverride="17.3.4" ExcludeAssets="Runtime" PrivateAssets="All" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Locator" PrivateAssets="All" />
-    <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Json" VersionOverride="8.0.4" PrivateAssets="All" Condition="'$(DotNetBuildSourceOnly)' != 'true'"/>
     <PackageReference Include="System.CommandLine" />
     <PackageReference Include="System.Collections.Immutable" />
     <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" />
@@ -39,6 +51,11 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="..\..\..\Compilers\Core\Portable\InternalUtilities\*.cs" Link="InternalUtilities\%(FileName).cs" />
+
+    <!-- Exclude utilities that use System.Reflection.Metadata -->
+    <Compile Remove="..\..\..\Compilers\Core\Portable\InternalUtilities\BlobBuildingStream.cs" />
+    <Compile Remove="..\..\..\Compilers\Core\Portable\InternalUtilities\IncrementalHashExtensions.cs" />
+
     <Compile Include="..\..\..\Compilers\Core\Portable\Collections\ArrayBuilderExtensions.cs" Link="Collections\ArrayBuilderExtensions.cs" />
     <Compile Include="..\..\..\Compilers\Core\Portable\Collections\ImmutableArrayExtensions.cs" Link="Collections\ImmutableArrayExtensions.cs" />
     <Compile Include="..\..\..\Compilers\Core\Portable\Collections\TemporaryArray`1.cs" Link="Collections\TemporaryArray`1.cs" />
@@ -94,4 +111,5 @@
   </Target>
   <Import Project="..\..\..\Dependencies\PooledObjects\Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.PooledObjects.projitems" Label="Shared" />
   <Import Project="..\..\..\Dependencies\Collections\Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Collections.projitems" Label="Shared" />
+  <Import Project="$(RepositoryEngineeringDir)targets\PackageDownloadAndReference.targets"/>
 </Project>