diff --git a/eng/RuntimePackages.targets b/eng/RuntimePackages.targets
index 1ac9cd17975..fd223b79631 100644
--- a/eng/RuntimePackages.targets
+++ b/eng/RuntimePackages.targets
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@
     <Deterministic>true</Deterministic>
     <DebugType>portable</DebugType>
   </PropertyGroup>
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="Exists('README.md')">
+    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
+  </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="$(PlaceholderFile)"
           Pack="true"
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation.csproj
index ca23b0b5590..7615f2bb4b0 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation/src/System.ServiceModel.Federation.csproj
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
          proactively updated by the identity team and it now references vulnerable dependencies -->
     <CentralPackageTransitivePinningEnabled>true</CentralPackageTransitivePinningEnabled>
     <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\System.ServiceModel.Primitives\src\System.ServiceModel.Primitives.csproj" />
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.Http/src/System.ServiceModel.Http.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.Http/src/System.ServiceModel.Http.csproj
index f6192e28e1c..751b86e8168 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.Http/src/System.ServiceModel.Http.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.Http/src/System.ServiceModel.Http.csproj
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
     <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);NU5131</NoWarn>
     <TargetFrameworks>$(DotNetVersion);$(NetFrameworkVersion);netstandard2.0</TargetFrameworks>
     <IsShipping>$(Ship_WcfPackages)</IsShipping>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' != '$(NetFrameworkVersion)'">
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase.csproj
index cf203c2d71a..322b46af85b 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase/src/System.ServiceModel.NetFramingBase.csproj
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
     <IsShipping>$(Ship_WcfPackages)</IsShipping>
     <TargetFrameworks>$(DotNetVersion)</TargetFrameworks>
     <RootNamespace>System.ServiceModel</RootNamespace>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe.csproj
index 2769378ef28..a7768ae79a5 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe/src/System.ServiceModel.NetNamedPipe.csproj
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
     <TargetFrameworks>$(DotNetVersion)</TargetFrameworks>
     <RootNamespace>System.ServiceModel</RootNamespace>
     <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp.csproj
index 4a31ca472d4..b6e52458d73 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp/src/System.ServiceModel.NetTcp.csproj
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
     <NoWarn>$(NoWarn);NU5131</NoWarn>
     <TargetFrameworks>$(DotNetVersion);$(NetFrameworkVersion);netstandard2.0</TargetFrameworks>
     <IsShipping>$(Ship_WcfPackages)</IsShipping>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' != '$(NetFrameworkVersion)'">
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives.csproj
index a2b20abb0ba..4e5e72e4f62 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives/src/System.ServiceModel.Primitives.csproj
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
          we wouldn't compile it anyway. -->
     <GenAPIGenerateReferenceAssemblySource>false</GenAPIGenerateReferenceAssemblySource>
     <IncludeSRCommonCode>false</IncludeSRCommonCode>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == '$(DotNetVersion)'">
     <InternalsVisibleTo Include="System.ServiceModel.Http" />
diff --git a/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket.csproj b/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket.csproj
index 7f6f13dabeb..687995bd308 100644
--- a/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket.csproj
+++ b/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket/src/System.ServiceModel.UnixDomainSocket.csproj
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
     <TargetFrameworks>$(DotNetVersion)</TargetFrameworks>
     <IsShipping>$(Ship_WcfPackages)</IsShipping>
     <PackageDescription>Provides the types that permit SOAP messages to be exchanged using Unix domain socket.</PackageDescription>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/System.Web.Services.Description/src/System.Web.Services.Description.csproj b/src/System.Web.Services.Description/src/System.Web.Services.Description.csproj
index 3843fd15b55..06a39d7a41e 100644
--- a/src/System.Web.Services.Description/src/System.Web.Services.Description.csproj
+++ b/src/System.Web.Services.Description/src/System.Web.Services.Description.csproj
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
     <TargetFrameworks>netstandard2.0;$(NetFrameworkVersion)</TargetFrameworks>
     <IsPartialFacadeAssembly Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == '$(NetFrameworkVersion)'">true</IsPartialFacadeAssembly>
     <EnableDefaultItems Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == '$(NetFrameworkVersion)'">false</EnableDefaultItems>
-    <PackageReadmeFile>README.md</PackageReadmeFile>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(TargetFramework)' == '$(NetFrameworkVersion)'">