diff --git a/src/Templates/src/templates/maui-aspire-servicedefaults/MauiAspire.1.ServiceDefaults.csproj b/src/Templates/src/templates/maui-aspire-servicedefaults/MauiAspire.1.ServiceDefaults.csproj
index d011350b2f8d..f77b00466a57 100644
--- a/src/Templates/src/templates/maui-aspire-servicedefaults/MauiAspire.1.ServiceDefaults.csproj
+++ b/src/Templates/src/templates/maui-aspire-servicedefaults/MauiAspire.1.ServiceDefaults.csproj
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 		<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
 		<Nullable>enable</Nullable>
 		<IsAspireSharedProject>true</IsAspireSharedProject>
+		<UseMauiCore>true</UseMauiCore>
 	</PropertyGroup>
 
 	<ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/TestUtils/src/Microsoft.Maui.IntegrationTests/SimpleTemplateTest.cs b/src/TestUtils/src/Microsoft.Maui.IntegrationTests/SimpleTemplateTest.cs
index 85898ea1df33..9311104e0b38 100644
--- a/src/TestUtils/src/Microsoft.Maui.IntegrationTests/SimpleTemplateTest.cs
+++ b/src/TestUtils/src/Microsoft.Maui.IntegrationTests/SimpleTemplateTest.cs
@@ -340,9 +340,15 @@ public void AspireServiceDefaultsTemplateUsesCorrectProjectName(string projectNa
 		Assert.IsTrue(File.Exists(Path.Combine(projectDir, "Extensions.cs")),
 			"Expected Extensions.cs file was not created.");
 
-		// Verify we can build it (even if restore fails due to placeholder tokens, the project structure should be valid)
+		// Verify the project file contains required properties
 		var projectContent = File.ReadAllText(expectedProjectFile);
 		Assert.IsTrue(projectContent.Contains("<IsAspireSharedProject>true</IsAspireSharedProject>", StringComparison.Ordinal),
 			"Project file should contain Aspire-specific properties.");
+		Assert.IsTrue(projectContent.Contains("<UseMauiCore>true</UseMauiCore>", StringComparison.Ordinal),
+			"Project file should contain UseMauiCore property.");
+
+		// Verify the project actually builds
+		Assert.IsTrue(DotnetInternal.Build(expectedProjectFile, "Debug", properties: BuildProps, msbuildWarningsAsErrors: true),
+			$"Project {Path.GetFileName(expectedProjectFile)} failed to build. Check test output/attachments for errors.");
 	}
 }