diff --git a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Current.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Current.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in
index 953ca2b03351af..061fea9acaa14c 100644
--- a/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Current.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in
+++ b/src/mono/nuget/Microsoft.NET.Workload.Mono.Toolchain.Current.Manifest/WorkloadManifest.targets.in
@@ -6,13 +6,16 @@
     <_RuntimePackInWorkloadVersion7>${PackageVersionNet7}</_RuntimePackInWorkloadVersion7>
     <_RuntimePackInWorkloadVersion6>${PackageVersionNet6}</_RuntimePackInWorkloadVersion6>
 
-    <TargetsNet9    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '9.0'))">true</TargetsNet9>
+    <TargetsCurrent Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '9.0'))">true</TargetsCurrent>
+    <!-- force net8 to use the current targets until the SDK can target net9 -->
+    <ForceNet8Current Condition="'$(ForceNet8Current)' == ''">true</ForceNet8Current>
+    <TargetsCurrent Condition="'$(ForceNet8Current)' == 'true' and '$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '8.0'))">true</TargetsCurrent>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(TargetsCurrent)' != 'true'">
     <TargetsNet8    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '8.0'))">true</TargetsNet8>
     <TargetsNet7    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '7.0'))">true</TargetsNet7>
     <TargetsNet6    Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkIdentifier)' == '.NETCoreApp' and $([MSBuild]::VersionEquals('$(TargetFrameworkVersion)', '6.0'))">true</TargetsNet6>
 
-    <TargetsCurrent Condition="'$(TargetsNet9)' == 'true'">true</TargetsCurrent>
-
     <!-- override WorkloadDetectionWhen net7 == net8 -->
     <WasmNativeWorkload7 Condition="'${PackageVersionNet7}' == '${PackageVersion}'">$(WasmNativeWorkload8)</WasmNativeWorkload7>
   </PropertyGroup>
@@ -24,17 +27,11 @@
     <_BrowserWorkloadDisabled>$(_BrowserWorkloadNotSupportedForTFM)</_BrowserWorkloadDisabled>
 
     <_UsingBlazorOrWasmSdk Condition="'$(UsingMicrosoftNETSdkBlazorWebAssembly)' == 'true' or '$(UsingMicrosoftNETSdkWebAssembly)' == 'true'">true</_UsingBlazorOrWasmSdk>
-
-    <!-- Is the workload for the target framework available -->
-    <!--<WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable />-->
-    <!--<WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet8)' == 'true' and $(WasmNativeWorkloadAvailableList.Contains('+net8.0+'))">true</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>-->
-    <!--<WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet7)' == 'true' and $(WasmNativeWorkloadAvailableList.Contains('+net7.0+'))">true</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>-->
-    <!--<WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet6)' == 'true' and $(WasmNativeWorkloadAvailableList.Contains('+net6.0+'))">true</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>-->
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == 'browser-wasm'">
     <SelfContained>true</SelfContained>
-    <WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet9)' == 'true'">$(WasmNativeWorkload9)</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>
+    <WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsCurrent)' == 'true'">$(WasmNativeWorkload9)</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>
     <WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet8)' == 'true'">$(WasmNativeWorkload8)</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>
     <WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet7)' == 'true'">$(WasmNativeWorkload7)</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>
     <WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable Condition="'$(TargetsNet6)' == 'true'">$(WasmNativeWorkload)</WasmNativeWorkloadAvailable>
@@ -181,12 +178,13 @@
       <!-- FIXMEWASI: workaround for now -->
       <RuntimePackRuntimeIdentifiers Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == 'wasi-wasm'">%(RuntimePackRuntimeIdentifiers);wasi-wasm</RuntimePackRuntimeIdentifiers>
 
-      <LatestRuntimeFrameworkVersion Condition="'%(KnownRuntimePack.TargetFramework)' == '${NetCoreAppCurrent}' and '%(KnownRuntimePack.RuntimePackLabels)' == 'Mono'">$(_MonoWorkloadRuntimePackPackageVersion)</LatestRuntimeFrameworkVersion>
+      <LatestRuntimeFrameworkVersion Condition="'$(TargetsCurrent)' == 'true' and '%(KnownRuntimePack.RuntimePackLabels)' == 'Mono'">$(_MonoWorkloadRuntimePackPackageVersion)</LatestRuntimeFrameworkVersion>
       <!-- Overrides for wasm threading support -->
       <RuntimePackNamePatterns Condition="'$(RuntimeIdentifier)' == 'browser-wasm' and '$(WasmEnableThreads)' == 'true'">Microsoft.NETCore.App.Runtime.Mono.multithread.**RID**</RuntimePackNamePatterns>
     </KnownRuntimePack>
     <KnownWebAssemblySdkPack Update="@(KnownWebAssemblySdkPack)">
       <WebAssemblySdkPackVersion Condition="'%(KnownWebAssemblySdkPack.TargetFramework)' == '${NetCoreAppCurrent}'">$(_KnownWebAssemblySdkPackVersion)</WebAssemblySdkPackVersion>
+      <WebAssemblySdkPackVersion Condition="'%(KnownWebAssemblySdkPack.TargetFramework)' == 'net8.0'">$(_KnownWebAssemblySdkPackVersion)</WebAssemblySdkPackVersion>
     </KnownWebAssemblySdkPack>
   </ItemGroup>
 
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs
index 376df6d082a62e..316aa2f019d1ae 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Blazor/BlazorWasmTestBase.cs
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ public void InitBlazorWasmProjectDir(string id, string targetFramework = Default
 
         File.Copy(Path.Combine(BuildEnvironment.TestDataPath, "Blazor.Directory.Build.props"), Path.Combine(_projectDir, "Directory.Build.props"));
         File.Copy(Path.Combine(BuildEnvironment.TestDataPath, "Blazor.Directory.Build.targets"), Path.Combine(_projectDir, "Directory.Build.targets"));
-        File.Copy(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath, Path.Combine(_projectDir, Path.GetFileName(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath)), overwrite: true);
+        if (BuildEnvironment.UseWBTOverridePackTargets)
+            File.Copy(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath, Path.Combine(_projectDir, Path.GetFileName(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath)), overwrite: true);
     }
 
     public string CreateBlazorWasmTemplateProject(string id)
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BuildTestBase.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BuildTestBase.cs
index a4d0470ef17e2b..82bb029fdac7e5 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BuildTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/BuildTestBase.cs
@@ -339,7 +339,8 @@ protected void InitProjectDir(string dir, bool addNuGetSourceForLocalPackages =
             Directory.CreateDirectory(dir);
             File.WriteAllText(Path.Combine(dir, "Directory.Build.props"), s_buildEnv.DirectoryBuildPropsContents);
             File.WriteAllText(Path.Combine(dir, "Directory.Build.targets"), s_buildEnv.DirectoryBuildTargetsContents);
-            File.Copy(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath, Path.Combine(dir, Path.GetFileName(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath)), overwrite: true);
+            if (BuildEnvironment.UseWBTOverridePackTargets)
+                File.Copy(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath, Path.Combine(dir, Path.GetFileName(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath)), overwrite: true);
 
             string targetNuGetConfigPath = Path.Combine(dir, "nuget.config");
             if (addNuGetSourceForLocalPackages)
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Common/BuildEnvironment.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Common/BuildEnvironment.cs
index 5180c6e77bc3a4..37a7668b5d099a 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Common/BuildEnvironment.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Common/BuildEnvironment.cs
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ public class BuildEnvironment
         public bool IsWorkloadWithMultiThreadingForDefaultFramework { get; init; }
         public bool IsRunningOnCI => EnvironmentVariables.IsRunningOnCI;
 
+        /* This will trigger importing WasmOverridePacks.targets for the tests,
+         * which will override the runtime pack with with the locally built one.
+         * But note that this only partially helps with "switching workloads" because
+         * the tasks/targets, aot compiler, etc would still be from the old version
+         */
+        public static readonly bool             UseWBTOverridePackTargets = false;
+
         public static readonly string           RelativeTestAssetsPath = @"..\testassets\";
         public static readonly string           TestAssetsPath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "testassets");
         public static readonly string           TestDataPath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "data");
@@ -121,7 +128,7 @@ public BuildEnvironment()
             EnvVars["DOTNET_SKIP_FIRST_TIME_EXPERIENCE"] = "1";
             EnvVars["PATH"] = $"{sdkForWorkloadPath}{Path.PathSeparator}{Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH")}";
             EnvVars["EM_WORKAROUND_PYTHON_BUG_34780"] = "1";
-            if (IsWorkload)
+            if (UseWBTOverridePackTargets && IsWorkload)
                 EnvVars["WBTOverrideRuntimePack"] = "true";
 
             if (!UseWebcil)
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/SatelliteAssembliesTests.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/SatelliteAssembliesTests.cs
index 8f6ae7fc13e863..713841e92262a8 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/SatelliteAssembliesTests.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/SatelliteAssembliesTests.cs
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ public void ResourcesFromProjectReference(BuildArgs buildArgs,
                                     // affect the non-wasm library project
                                     File.Move(Path.Combine(rootDir, "Directory.Build.props"), Path.Combine(_projectDir, "Directory.Build.props"));
                                     File.Move(Path.Combine(rootDir, "Directory.Build.targets"), Path.Combine(_projectDir, "Directory.Build.targets"));
-                                    File.Move(Path.Combine(rootDir, "WasmOverridePacks.targets"), Path.Combine(_projectDir, "WasmOverridePacks.targets"));
+                                    if (BuildEnvironment.UseWBTOverridePackTargets)
+                                        File.Move(Path.Combine(rootDir, "WasmOverridePacks.targets"), Path.Combine(_projectDir, "WasmOverridePacks.targets"));
 
                                     CreateProgramForCultureTest(_projectDir, "LibraryWithResources.resx.words", "LibraryWithResources.Class1");
 
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/WasmTemplateTestBase.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/WasmTemplateTestBase.cs
index c7392f3dbece93..e58e7002a368bd 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/WasmTemplateTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/WasmTemplateTestBase.cs
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ public string CreateWasmTemplateProject(string id, string template = "wasmbrowse
               <Import Project="WasmOverridePacks.targets" Condition="'$(WBTOverrideRuntimePack)' == 'true'" />
             </Project>
             """);
-        File.Copy(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath, Path.Combine(_projectDir, Path.GetFileName(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath)), overwrite: true);
+        if (BuildEnvironment.UseWBTOverridePackTargets)
+            File.Copy(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath, Path.Combine(_projectDir, Path.GetFileName(BuildEnvironment.WasmOverridePacksTargetsPath)), overwrite: true);
 
         if (addFrameworkArg)
             extraArgs += $" -f {DefaultTargetFramework}";