diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Common/DeploymentParameters.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Common/DeploymentParameters.cs
index 0e56ed6f14..76ea430a47 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Common/DeploymentParameters.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Common/DeploymentParameters.cs
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing
         /// </summary>
         public bool PublishApplicationBeforeDeployment { get; set; }
 
+        public string PublishTargetFramework { get; set; }
+
         public string PublishedApplicationRootPath { get; set; }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/ApplicationDeployer.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/ApplicationDeployer.cs
index e5d63a6caa..67bc196689 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/ApplicationDeployer.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/ApplicationDeployer.cs
@@ -37,24 +37,20 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing
 
         protected ILogger Logger { get; }
 
-        protected string TargetFrameworkName { get; private set; }
-
         public abstract DeploymentResult Deploy();
 
-        protected void PickRuntime()
-        {
-            TargetFrameworkName = DeploymentParameters.RuntimeFlavor == RuntimeFlavor.Clr ? "dnx451" : "netstandardapp1.5";
-
-            Logger.LogInformation($"Pick target framework {TargetFrameworkName}");
-        }
-
         protected void DotnetPublish(string publishRoot = null)
         {
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(DeploymentParameters.PublishTargetFramework))
+            {
+                throw new Exception($"A target framework must be specified in the deployment parameters for applications that require publishing before deployment");
+            }
+
             DeploymentParameters.PublishedApplicationRootPath = publishRoot ?? Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
 
             var parameters = $"publish {DeploymentParameters.ApplicationPath}"
                 + $" -o {DeploymentParameters.PublishedApplicationRootPath}"
-                + $" --framework {TargetFrameworkName}";
+                + $" --framework {DeploymentParameters.PublishTargetFramework}";
 
             Logger.LogInformation($"Executing command {DotnetCommandName} {parameters}");
 
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISDeployer.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISDeployer.cs
index 3de8db733c..78132321c8 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISDeployer.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISDeployer.cs
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing
 
             _application = new IISApplication(DeploymentParameters, Logger);
 
-            PickRuntime();
-
             // Publish to IIS root\application folder.
             DotnetPublish(publishRoot: _application.WebSiteRootFolder);
 
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISExpressDeployer.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISExpressDeployer.cs
index 62d1d0c5c0..0f491e562f 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISExpressDeployer.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/IISExpressDeployer.cs
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing
             // Start timer
             StartTimer();
 
-            PickRuntime();
-
             // For now we always auto-publish. Otherwise we'll have to write our own local web.config for the HttpPlatformHandler
             DeploymentParameters.PublishApplicationBeforeDeployment = true;
             if (DeploymentParameters.PublishApplicationBeforeDeployment)
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/SelfHostDeployer.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/SelfHostDeployer.cs
index 1bac2ef81b..f28e5dde98 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/SelfHostDeployer.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing/Deployers/SelfHostDeployer.cs
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Testing
             // Start timer
             StartTimer();
 
-            PickRuntime();
-
             if (DeploymentParameters.PublishApplicationBeforeDeployment)
             {
                 DotnetPublish();