diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/ToolWithOutputName/ToolWithOutputName.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/ToolWithOutputName/ToolWithOutputName.csproj
index 5639e3331..6c57ebe5d 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/ToolWithOutputName/ToolWithOutputName.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/ToolWithOutputName/ToolWithOutputName.csproj
@@ -8,10 +8,4 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
-
 </Project>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-context-test/dotnet-dependency-context-test.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-context-test/dotnet-dependency-context-test.csproj
index 85afeaf74..97e20d00d 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-context-test/dotnet-dependency-context-test.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-context-test/dotnet-dependency-context-test.csproj
@@ -7,12 +7,6 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
-
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyModel" Version="$(DependencyModelVersion)" />
   </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker.csproj
index 2ce9e3b1a..47539b5f0 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker/dotnet-dependency-tool-invoker.csproj
@@ -20,12 +20,6 @@
     <Compile Include="..\..\..\src\dotnet\CommandLine\*.cs;..\..\..\src\dotnet\CommonLocalizableStrings.cs;" Exclude="bin\**;obj\**;**\*.xproj;packages\**" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
-
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="NuGet.Frameworks" Version="$(CLI_NuGet_Version)" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils" Version="$(SdkNugetVersion)" />
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-desktop-and-portable/dotnet-desktop-and-portable.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-desktop-and-portable/dotnet-desktop-and-portable.csproj
index 1f3345bf4..185ef41f0 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-desktop-and-portable/dotnet-desktop-and-portable.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-desktop-and-portable/dotnet-desktop-and-portable.csproj
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@
     <RuntimeIdentifiers>win7-x64;win7-x86</RuntimeIdentifiers>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
-  <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(TargetFramework)' == 'netcoreapp1.1' ">
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
-
   <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(TargetFramework)' == 'netcoreapp1.1' ">
     <RuntimeFrameworkVersion>1.1.1</RuntimeFrameworkVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool.csproj
index 11aac9cf0..35e92a2bb 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool/dotnet-fallbackfoldertool.csproj
@@ -7,10 +7,5 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <VersionSuffix></VersionSuffix>
   </PropertyGroup>
-
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
+  
 </Project>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0.csproj
index 17c0af923..e26afd464 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0/dotnet-outputsframeworkversion-netcoreapp1.0.csproj
@@ -7,9 +7,4 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <RuntimeFrameworkVersion>1.1.1</RuntimeFrameworkVersion>
   </PropertyGroup>
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup> 
 </Project>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli.csproj
index 60ef7f71c..10cc9b117 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli/dotnet-portable-v1-prefercli.csproj
@@ -14,10 +14,5 @@
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="..\dotnet-portable\Program.cs" />
-
-    <Content Include="..\dotnet-prefercliruntime\prefercliruntime">
-      <Pack>true</Pack>
-      <PackagePath>\prefercliruntime</PackagePath>
-    </Content>
   </ItemGroup>  
 </Project>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1/dotnet-portable-v1.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1/dotnet-portable-v1.csproj
index 3df959be1..b1bddfee9 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1/dotnet-portable-v1.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable-v1/dotnet-portable-v1.csproj
@@ -6,12 +6,6 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
-
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="..\dotnet-portable\Program.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable/dotnet-portable.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable/dotnet-portable.csproj
index f8b581110..bc2925f73 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable/dotnet-portable.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-portable/dotnet-portable.csproj
@@ -6,9 +6,4 @@
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
-  <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-  </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
diff --git a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-prefercliruntime/dotnet-prefercliruntime.csproj b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-prefercliruntime/dotnet-prefercliruntime.csproj
index bd65e4cdd..21eb0a6d1 100644
--- a/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-prefercliruntime/dotnet-prefercliruntime.csproj
+++ b/TestAssets/TestPackages/dotnet-prefercliruntime/dotnet-prefercliruntime.csproj
@@ -8,10 +8,6 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput Include="$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)">
-      <FinalOutputPath>$(ProjectRuntimeConfigFilePath)</FinalOutputPath>
-    </BuiltProjectOutputGroupOutput>
-
     <Content Include="prefercliruntime">
       <Pack>true</Pack>
       <PackagePath>\prefercliruntime</PackagePath>
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/CommandResolution/PackagedCommandSpecFactoryWithCliRuntime.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/CommandResolution/PackagedCommandSpecFactoryWithCliRuntime.cs
index 0d7edc4e3..c22af40ba 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/CommandResolution/PackagedCommandSpecFactoryWithCliRuntime.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/CommandResolution/PackagedCommandSpecFactoryWithCliRuntime.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,14 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
             if(PrefersCliRuntime(commandPath))
             {
                 var runtimeConfigFile = Path.ChangeExtension(commandPath, FileNameSuffixes.RuntimeConfigJson);
+
+                if (!File.Exists(runtimeConfigFile))
+                {
+                    throw new GracefulException(string.Format(LocalizableStrings.CouldNotFindToolRuntimeConfigFile,
+                                                              nameof(PackagedCommandSpecFactory),
+                                                              Path.GetFileName(commandPath)));
+                }
+
                 var runtimeConfig = new RuntimeConfig(runtimeConfigFile);
 
                 var muxer = new Muxer();
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/LocalizableStrings.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/LocalizableStrings.cs
index 455920e1b..3b2f17829 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/LocalizableStrings.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/LocalizableStrings.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
 
         public const string IgnoringPreferCLIRuntimeFile = "{0}: Ignoring prefercliruntime file as the tool target framework ({1}) has a different major version than the current CLI runtime ({2})";
 
+        public const string CouldNotFindToolRuntimeConfigFile = "{0}: Could not find runtimeconfig.json file for tool {1}";
+
         public const string AttemptingToResolve = "{0}: attempting to resolve {1}";
 
         public const string DidNotFindAMatchingProject = "{0}: Did not find a matching project {1}.";