msbuild: InvalidProjectFileException (MSB0001: Internal MSBuild Error: A required NuGet assembly was not found)

Issue Description

Using recent MSBuild previews, loading projects in units tests (via new ProjectInstance) is failing for me with this error:

  Error Message:
   Microsoft.Build.Exceptions.InvalidProjectFileException : The expression "[MSBuild]::GetTargetFrameworkIdentifier(net5.0)" cannot be evaluated. MSB0001: Internal MSBuild Error: A required NuGet assembly was not found. Expected Path: C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\6.0.100-preview.2.21155.3  C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\6.0.100-preview.2.21155.3\Sdks\Microsoft.NET.Sdk\targets\Microsoft.NET.TargetFrameworkInference.targets
  Stack Trace:
     at Microsoft.Build.Shared.ProjectErrorUtilities.ThrowInvalidProject(String errorSubCategoryResourceName, IElementLocation elementLocation, String resourceName, Object[] args)
   at Microsoft.Build.Shared.ProjectErrorUtilities.ThrowInvalidProject[T1,T2](IElementLocation elementLocation, String resourceName, T1 arg0, T2 arg1)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.Function`1.Execute(Object objectInstance, IPropertyProvider`1 properties, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.PropertyExpander`1.ExpandPropertyBody(String propertyBody, Object propertyValue, IPropertyProvider`1 properties, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation, UsedUninitializedProperties usedUninitializedProperties, IFileSystem fileSystem)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.PropertyExpander`1.ExpandPropertiesLeaveTypedAndEscaped(String expression, IPropertyProvider`1 properties, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation, UsedUninitializedProperties usedUninitializedProperties, IFileSystem fileSystem)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.PropertyExpander`1.ExpandPropertiesLeaveEscaped(String expression, IPropertyProvider`1 properties, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation, UsedUninitializedProperties usedUninitializedProperties, IFileSystem fileSystem)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Expander`2.ExpandIntoStringLeaveEscaped(String expression, ExpanderOptions options, IElementLocation elementLocation)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluatePropertyElement(ProjectPropertyElement propertyElement)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluatePropertyGroupElement(ProjectPropertyGroupElement propertyGroupElement)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.PerformDepthFirstPass(ProjectRootElement currentProjectOrImport)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluateImportElement(String directoryOfImportingFile, ProjectImportElement importElement)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.PerformDepthFirstPass(ProjectRootElement currentProjectOrImport)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluateImportElement(String directoryOfImportingFile, ProjectImportElement importElement)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.PerformDepthFirstPass(ProjectRootElement currentProjectOrImport)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.EvaluateImportElement(String directoryOfImportingFile, ProjectImportElement importElement)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.PerformDepthFirstPass(ProjectRootElement currentProjectOrImport)
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.Evaluate()
   at Microsoft.Build.Evaluation.Evaluator`4.Evaluate(IEvaluatorData`4 data, ProjectRootElement root, ProjectLoadSettings loadSettings, Int32 maxNodeCount, PropertyDictionary`1 environmentProperties, ILoggingService loggingService, IItemFactory`2 itemFactory, IToolsetProvider toolsetProvider, ProjectRootElementCacheBase projectRootElementCache, BuildEventContext buildEventContext, ISdkResolverService sdkResolverService, Int32 submissionId, EvaluationContext evaluationContext, Boolean interactive)
   at Microsoft.Build.Execution.ProjectInstance.Initialize(ProjectRootElement xml, IDictionary`2 globalProperties, String explicitToolsVersion, String explicitSubToolsetVersion, Int32 visualStudioVersionFromSolution, BuildParameters buildParameters, ILoggingService loggingService, BuildEventContext buildEventContext, ISdkResolverService sdkResolverService, Int32 submissionId, Nullable`1 projectLoadSettings, EvaluationContext evaluationContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.Execution.ProjectInstance..ctor(String projectFile, IDictionary`2 globalProperties, String toolsVersion, String subToolsetVersion, ProjectCollection projectCollection, Nullable`1 projectLoadSettings, EvaluationContext evaluationContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.Execution.ProjectInstance..ctor(String projectFile)
   at ProjectInstanceRepro.Program.LoadTestProject() in D:\scratch\ProjectInstanceRepro\ProjectInstanceRepro\Program.cs:line 22
   at ProjectInstanceRepro.Program.Main() in D:\scratch\ProjectInstanceRepro\ProjectInstanceRepro\Program.cs:line 17
   at TestProj.UnitTest1.Test1() in D:\scratch\ProjectInstanceRepro\TestProj\UnitTest1.cs:line 12

Steps to Reproduce

I’ve created a small repro at mjrousos/ProjectInstanceRepro.

Notice that running the ‘ProjectInstanceRepro’ app succeeds but running dotnet test on either test project (which just invoke ProjectInstanceRepro’s main method) fails.

Expected Behavior

The project instance should load successfully.

Actual Behavior

The error shown above.

Versions & Configurations

This appears to repro in both 5.0.300-preview.21180.15 and 6.0.100-preview.2.21155.3.