diff --git a/build/repo.targets b/build/repo.targets
index 4841052ed6..2e234b2b72 100644
--- a/build/repo.targets
+++ b/build/repo.targets
@@ -7,4 +7,27 @@
       <AdditionalProperties>Configuration=$(Configuration)NoVSIX</AdditionalProperties>
     </Solutions>
   </ItemGroup>
+
+  <PropertyGroup>
+    <PrepareDependsOn>$(PrepareDependsOn);GenerateMSBuildLocationFile</PrepareDependsOn>
+    <RazorDesignTestProject>$(RepositoryRoot)test\Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test\</RazorDesignTestProject>
+    <MSBuildLocationFileTemplate>$(RazorDesignTestProject)BuildVariables.cs.template</MSBuildLocationFileTemplate>
+    <MSBuildLocationFileOutput>$(RazorDesignTestProject)obj\BuildVariables.generated.cs</MSBuildLocationFileOutput>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
+  <Target Name="GenerateMSBuildLocationFile"
+      DependsOnTargets="GetToolsets"
+      Inputs="$(MSBuildLocationFileTemplate);$(VisualStudioMSBuildx86Path)"
+      Outputs="$(MSBuildLocationFileOutput)">
+
+    <PropertyGroup>
+      <TemplateProperties>MSBuildLocation=$(VisualStudioMSBuildx86Path)</TemplateProperties>
+    </PropertyGroup>
+
+    <GenerateFileFromTemplate
+      TemplateFile="$(MSBuildLocationFileTemplate)"
+      Properties="$(TemplateProperties)"
+      OutputPath="$(MSBuildLocationFileOutput)" />
+
+  </Target>
 </Project>
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/BuildVariables.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/BuildVariables.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6efdf63efc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/BuildVariables.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.IntegrationTests
+{
+    internal static partial class BuildVariables
+    {
+        private static string _msBuildPath = "";
+
+        static partial void InitializeVariables();
+
+        public static string MSBuildPath
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                InitializeVariables();
+                return _msBuildPath;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/BuildVariables.cs.template b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/BuildVariables.cs.template
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e31b16adc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/BuildVariables.cs.template
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.IntegrationTests
+{
+    internal static partial class BuildVariables
+    {
+        static partial void InitializeVariables()
+        {
+            _msBuildPath = @"${MSBuildLocation}";
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/BuildIntegrationTest.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/BuildIntegrationTest.cs
index b838503e58..7b82f60110 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/BuildIntegrationTest.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/BuildIntegrationTest.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 using System.IO;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Testing.xunit;
 using Microsoft.DotNet.PlatformAbstractions;
 using Xunit;
 
@@ -12,9 +13,19 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.IntegrationTests
     {
         [Fact]
         [InitializeTestProject("SimpleMvc")]
-        public async Task Build_SimpleMvc_CanBuildSuccessfully()
+        public Task Build_SimpleMvc_UsingDotnetMSBuild_CanBuildSuccessfully()
+            => Build_SimpleMvc_CanBuildSuccessfully(MSBuildProcessKind.Dotnet);
+
+        [ConditionalFact]
+        [OSSkipCondition(OperatingSystems.Linux)]
+        [OSSkipCondition(OperatingSystems.MacOSX)]
+        [InitializeTestProject("SimpleMvc")]
+        public Task Build_SimpleMvc_UsingDesktopMSBuild_CanBuildSuccessfully()
+            => Build_SimpleMvc_CanBuildSuccessfully(MSBuildProcessKind.Desktop);
+
+        private async Task Build_SimpleMvc_CanBuildSuccessfully(MSBuildProcessKind msBuildProcessKind)
         {
-            var result = await DotnetMSBuild("Build", "/p:RazorCompileOnBuild=true");
+            var result = await DotnetMSBuild("Build", "/p:RazorCompileOnBuild=true", msBuildProcessKind: msBuildProcessKind);
 
             Assert.BuildPassed(result);
             Assert.FileExists(result, OutputPath, "SimpleMvc.dll");
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildIntegrationTestBase.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildIntegrationTestBase.cs
index dd051029b3..cbc17d1bbc 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildIntegrationTestBase.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildIntegrationTestBase.cs
@@ -42,12 +42,21 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.IntegrationTests
 
         protected string TargetFramework { get; set; } = "netcoreapp2.0";
 
-        internal Task<MSBuildResult> DotnetMSBuild(string target, string args = null, bool suppressRestore = false, bool suppressTimeout = false)
+        internal Task<MSBuildResult> DotnetMSBuild(
+            string target,
+            string args = null,
+            bool suppressRestore = false,
+            bool suppressTimeout = false,
+            MSBuildProcessKind msBuildProcessKind = MSBuildProcessKind.Dotnet)
         {
             var timeout = suppressTimeout ? (TimeSpan?)Timeout.InfiniteTimeSpan : null;
             var restoreArgument = suppressRestore ? "" : "/restore";
 
-            return MSBuildProcessManager.RunProcessAsync(Project, $"{restoreArgument} /t:{target} /p:Configuration={Configuration} {args}", timeout);
+            return MSBuildProcessManager.RunProcessAsync(
+                Project,
+                $"{restoreArgument} /t:{target} /p:Configuration={Configuration} {args}",
+                timeout,
+                msBuildProcessKind);
         }
 
         internal void ReplaceContent(string content, params string[] paths)
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessKind.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessKind.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dab7e73fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessKind.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using System;
+using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.IntegrationTests
+{
+    internal enum MSBuildProcessKind
+    {
+        /// <summary>dotnet msbuild</summary>
+        Dotnet,
+
+        /// <summary>msbuild.exe</summary>
+        Desktop,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessManager.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessManager.cs
index 634d9c6e77..70b43448e4 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessManager.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/IntegrationTests/MSBuildProcessManager.cs
@@ -11,21 +11,41 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.IntegrationTests
 {
     internal static class MSBuildProcessManager
     {
-        public static Task<MSBuildResult> RunProcessAsync(ProjectDirectory project, string arguments, TimeSpan? timeout = null)
+        public static Task<MSBuildResult> RunProcessAsync(
+            ProjectDirectory project,
+            string arguments,
+            TimeSpan? timeout = null,
+            MSBuildProcessKind msBuildProcessKind = MSBuildProcessKind.Dotnet)
         {
             timeout = timeout ?? TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30);
 
+            var processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo()
+            {
+                WorkingDirectory = project.DirectoryPath,
+                UseShellExecute = false,
+                RedirectStandardError = true,
+                RedirectStandardOutput = true,
+            };
+
+            if (msBuildProcessKind == MSBuildProcessKind.Desktop)
+            {
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(BuildVariables.MSBuildPath))
+                {
+                    throw new ArgumentException("Unable to locate MSBuild.exe to run desktop tests.");
+                }
+
+                processStartInfo.FileName = BuildVariables.MSBuildPath;
+                processStartInfo.Arguments = arguments;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                processStartInfo.FileName = "dotnet";
+                processStartInfo.Arguments = $"msbuild {arguments}";
+            }
+
             var process = new Process()
             {
-                StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo()
-                {
-                    FileName = "dotnet",
-                    Arguments = "msbuild " + arguments,
-                    WorkingDirectory = project.DirectoryPath,
-                    UseShellExecute = false,
-                    RedirectStandardError = true,
-                    RedirectStandardOutput = true,
-                },
+                StartInfo = processStartInfo,
                 EnableRaisingEvents = true,
             };
 
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test.csproj b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test.csproj
index 4377052fc5..2707dc5013 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test.csproj
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design.Test.csproj
@@ -12,10 +12,13 @@
     <DefineConstants Condition="'$(PreserveWorkingDirectory)'=='true'">$(DefineConstants);PRESERVE_WORKING_DIRECTORY</DefineConstants>
     <!-- Copy references locally so that we can use them in the test. -->
     <CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies>true</CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies>
+    <BuildVariablesGeneratedFile>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\obj\BuildVariables.generated.cs</BuildVariablesGeneratedFile>
+    <CompileDependsOn>EnsureBuildVariablesGeneratedFile;$(CompileDependsOn)</CompileDependsOn>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="xunit.runner.json" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest" />
+    <Compile Include="$(BuildVariablesGeneratedFile)" Condition="Exists('$(BuildVariablesGeneratedFile)')" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -40,5 +43,11 @@
       <ReferenceOutputAssembly>false</ReferenceOutputAssembly>
     </ProjectReference>
   </ItemGroup>
+
+  <Target Name="EnsureBuildVariablesGeneratedFile">
+    <Error
+      Text="BuildVariables.generated.cs was not found. Run .\build /t:Prepare from the root of the repository to generate it."
+      Condition="!Exists('$(BuildVariablesGeneratedFile)')" />
+  </Target>
   
 </Project>