diff --git a/src/Docfx.Dotnet/CompilationHelper.cs b/src/Docfx.Dotnet/CompilationHelper.cs
index 69d3463828f..3477aca4f4c 100644
--- a/src/Docfx.Dotnet/CompilationHelper.cs
+++ b/src/Docfx.Dotnet/CompilationHelper.cs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Licensed to the .NET Foundation under one or more agreements.
 // The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 
-
+using System.Reflection.PortableExecutable;
 using Docfx.Common;
 using Docfx.Exceptions;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Metadata;
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ public static Compilation CreateCompilationFromVBCode(string code, IDictionary<s
             references: GetDefaultMetadataReferences("VB").Concat(references ?? []));
     }
 
-    public static (Compilation, IAssemblySymbol) CreateCompilationFromAssembly(string assemblyPath, bool includePrivateMembers = false, params MetadataReference[] references)
+    public static (Compilation, IAssemblySymbol) CreateCompilationFromAssembly(string assemblyPath, PEReader? peReader = null, bool includePrivateMembers = false, params MetadataReference[] references)
     {
         var metadataReference = CreateMetadataReference(assemblyPath);
         var compilation = CS.CSharpCompilation.Create(
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ public static (Compilation, IAssemblySymbol) CreateCompilationFromAssembly(strin
                     : MetadataImportOptions.Public
             ),
             syntaxTrees: s_assemblyBootstrap,
-            references: GetReferenceAssemblies(assemblyPath, references)
+            references: GetReferenceAssemblies(assemblyPath, peReader, references)
                 .Select(CreateMetadataReference)
                 .Concat(references ?? [])
                 .Append(metadataReference));
@@ -164,9 +164,11 @@ private static IEnumerable<MetadataReference> GetDefaultMetadataReferences(strin
         }
     }
 
-    private static IEnumerable<string> GetReferenceAssemblies(string assemblyPath, MetadataReference[] references)
+    private static IEnumerable<string> GetReferenceAssemblies(string assemblyPath, PEReader? peReader, MetadataReference[] references)
     {
-        using var assembly = new PEFile(assemblyPath);
+        using var assembly = peReader == null
+            ? new PEFile(assemblyPath)
+            : new PEFile(assemblyPath, peReader);
         var assemblyResolver = new UniversalAssemblyResolver(assemblyPath, false, assembly.DetectTargetFrameworkId());
         var result = new Dictionary<string, string>();
         Dictionary<string, string>? referenceFiles = default;
diff --git a/src/Docfx.Dotnet/DotnetApiCatalog.Compile.cs b/src/Docfx.Dotnet/DotnetApiCatalog.Compile.cs
index 60e8b4be1e3..4177b3d9dbe 100644
--- a/src/Docfx.Dotnet/DotnetApiCatalog.Compile.cs
+++ b/src/Docfx.Dotnet/DotnetApiCatalog.Compile.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 // The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
 
 using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Reflection.PortableExecutable;
 using Docfx.Common;
 using Microsoft.Build.Construction;
 using Microsoft.Build.Framework;
@@ -109,8 +110,17 @@ await LoadCompilationFromProject(project.AbsolutePath) is { } compilation)
         {
             foreach (var assemblyFile in assemblyFiles)
             {
-                Logger.LogInfo($"Loading assembly {assemblyFile.NormalizedPath}");
-                var (compilation, assembly) = CompilationHelper.CreateCompilationFromAssembly(assemblyFile.NormalizedPath, config.IncludePrivateMembers, metadataReferences);
+                var normalizedAssemblyPath = assemblyFile.NormalizedPath;
+
+                using var peReader = new PEReader(new FileStream(normalizedAssemblyPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read));
+                if (!peReader.HasMetadata)
+                {
+                    Logger.LogInfo($"Skip non-managed assembly {normalizedAssemblyPath}");
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                Logger.LogInfo($"Loading assembly {normalizedAssemblyPath}");
+                var (compilation, assembly) = CompilationHelper.CreateCompilationFromAssembly(normalizedAssemblyPath, peReader, config.IncludePrivateMembers, metadataReferences);
                 hasCompilationError |= compilation.CheckDiagnostics(config.AllowCompilationErrors);
                 assemblies.Add((assembly, compilation));
             }