diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/BuildWorkspace.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/BuildWorkspace.cs
index 4c633d859..5ac6e0e2b 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/BuildWorkspace.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/BuildWorkspace.cs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
 {
     public class BuildWorkspace : Workspace
     {
-        public BuildWorkspace(ProjectReaderSettings settings) : base(settings) { }
+        public BuildWorkspace(ProjectReaderSettings settings) : base(settings, false) { }
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Create an empty <see cref="WorkspaceContext" /> using the default <see cref="ProjectReaderSettings" />
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
                     return CreateBaseProjectBuilder(context.ProjectFile)
                         .WithTargetFramework(context.TargetFramework)
                         .WithRuntimeIdentifiers(runtimeIdentifiers)
-                        .AsDesignTime()
                         .Build();
                 }
 
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/DesignTimeWorkspace.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/DesignTimeWorkspace.cs
index fe6495174..9f678c015 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/DesignTimeWorkspace.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/DesignTimeWorkspace.cs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
 
         private bool _needRefresh;
 
-        public DesignTimeWorkspace(ProjectReaderSettings settings) : base(settings) { }
+        public DesignTimeWorkspace(ProjectReaderSettings settings) : base(settings, true) { }
 
         public void AddProject(string path)
         {
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/Workspace.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/Workspace.cs
index 2314eea8f..e35cbf31c 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/Workspace.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel/Workspace.cs
@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
 
         private readonly ProjectReaderSettings _settings;
         private readonly LockFileReader _lockFileReader;
+        private readonly bool _designTime;
 
-        protected Workspace(ProjectReaderSettings settings)
+        protected Workspace(ProjectReaderSettings settings, bool designTime)
         {
             _settings = settings;
             _lockFileReader = new LockFileReader();
+            _designTime = designTime;
         }
 
         public ProjectContext GetProjectContext(string projectPath, NuGetFramework framework)
@@ -168,7 +170,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectModel
                     {
                         try
                         {
-                            currentEntry.Model = _lockFileReader.ReadLockFile(currentEntry.FilePath, fs, designTime: true);
+                            currentEntry.Model = _lockFileReader.ReadLockFile(currentEntry.FilePath, fs, designTime: _designTime);
                             currentEntry.UpdateLastWriteTimeUtc();
                         }
                         catch (FileFormatException ex)