diff --git a/src/Tasks.UnitTests/OutputPathTests.cs b/src/Tasks.UnitTests/OutputPathTests.cs
index f2bc410bbbd..6b4da05750a 100644
--- a/src/Tasks.UnitTests/OutputPathTests.cs
+++ b/src/Tasks.UnitTests/OutputPathTests.cs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public void BothBaseOutputPathAndOutputPathWereNotSpecified()
             project.Build(new MockLogger(_output)).ShouldBeFalse();
 
             // Assert
-            project.GetPropertyValue("BaseOutputPath").ShouldBe(baseOutputPath.WithTrailingSlash());
+            project.GetPropertyValue("BaseOutputPath").ShouldBe(baseOutputPath + '\\');
             project.GetPropertyValue("BaseOutputPathWasSpecified").ShouldBe(string.Empty);
             project.GetPropertyValue("_OutputPathWasMissing").ShouldBe("true");
         }
diff --git a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CrossTargeting.targets b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CrossTargeting.targets
index c4bc9a95d34..f59b407d959 100644
--- a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CrossTargeting.targets
+++ b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CrossTargeting.targets
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildTargets)' == 'true' and '$(DirectoryBuildTargetsPath)' == ''">
     <_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)' == ''">Directory.Build.targets</_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile>
     <_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)' == ''">$([MSBuild]::GetDirectoryNameOfFileAbove($(MSBuildProjectDirectory), '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)'))</_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath>
-    <DirectoryBuildTargetsPath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)' != '' and '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)' != ''">$([MSBuild]::NormalizePath('$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)', '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)'))</DirectoryBuildTargetsPath>
+    <DirectoryBuildTargetsPath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)' != '' and '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)' != ''">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)', '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)'))</DirectoryBuildTargetsPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <Import Project="$(DirectoryBuildTargetsPath)" Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildTargets)' == 'true' and exists('$(DirectoryBuildTargetsPath)')"/>
diff --git a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets
index 9c9d0d5f025..4726db6c8b6 100644
--- a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets
+++ b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets
@@ -150,15 +150,17 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
     <Configuration Condition="'$(Configuration)' == ''">Debug</Configuration>
     <ConfigurationName Condition="'$(ConfigurationName)' == ''">$(Configuration)</ConfigurationName>
 
-    <BaseOutputPath>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(BaseOutputPath)', 'bin'))))</BaseOutputPath>
-    <OutputPath Condition="'$(OutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' == 'AnyCPU'">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(BaseOutputPath)', '$(Configuration)'))</OutputPath>
-    <OutputPath Condition="'$(OutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' != 'AnyCPU'">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(BaseOutputPath)', '$(PlatformName)', '$(Configuration)'))</OutputPath>
-    <OutputPath>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash('$(OutputPath)'))</OutputPath>
-
-    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)', 'obj'))))</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
-    <IntermediateOutputPath Condition="'$(IntermediateOutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' == 'AnyCPU'">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)', '$(Configuration)'))</IntermediateOutputPath>
-    <IntermediateOutputPath Condition="'$(IntermediateOutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' != 'AnyCPU'">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)', '$(PlatformName)', '$(Configuration)'))</IntermediateOutputPath>
-    <IntermediateOutputPath>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash('$(IntermediateOutputPath)'))</IntermediateOutputPath>
+    <BaseOutputPath Condition="'$(BaseOutputPath)' == ''">bin\</BaseOutputPath>
+    <BaseOutputPath Condition="!HasTrailingSlash('$(BaseOutputPath)')">$(BaseOutputPath)\</BaseOutputPath>
+    <OutputPath Condition="'$(OutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' == 'AnyCPU'">$(BaseOutputPath)$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
+    <OutputPath Condition="'$(OutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' != 'AnyCPU'">$(BaseOutputPath)$(PlatformName)\$(Configuration)\</OutputPath>
+    <OutputPath Condition="!HasTrailingSlash('$(OutputPath)')">$(OutputPath)\</OutputPath>
+
+    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath Condition="'$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)' == ''">obj\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
+    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath Condition="!HasTrailingSlash('$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)')">$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
+    <IntermediateOutputPath Condition="'$(IntermediateOutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' == 'AnyCPU'">$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
+    <IntermediateOutputPath Condition="'$(IntermediateOutputPath)' == '' and '$(PlatformName)' != 'AnyCPU'">$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)$(PlatformName)\$(Configuration)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
+    <IntermediateOutputPath Condition="!HasTrailingSlash('$(IntermediateOutputPath)')">$(IntermediateOutputPath)\</IntermediateOutputPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <PropertyGroup>
@@ -222,14 +224,15 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
     <!-- Required for enabling Team Build for packaging app package-generating projects -->
     <OutDirWasSpecified Condition=" '$(OutDir)'!='' and '$(OutDirWasSpecified)'=='' ">true</OutDirWasSpecified>
 
+    <OutDir Condition=" '$(OutDir)' == '' ">$(OutputPath)</OutDir>
     <!-- Example, bin\Debug\ -->
     <!-- Ensure OutDir has a trailing slash, so it can be concatenated -->
-    <OutDir>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(OutDir)', '$(OutputPath)'))))</OutDir>
+    <OutDir Condition="'$(OutDir)' != '' and !HasTrailingSlash('$(OutDir)')">$(OutDir)\</OutDir>
     <ProjectName Condition=" '$(ProjectName)' == '' ">$(MSBuildProjectName)</ProjectName>
     <!-- Example, MyProject -->
 
     <!-- For projects that generate app packages or ones that want a per-project output directory, update OutDir to include the project name -->
-    <OutDir Condition="'$(OutDir)' != '' and '$(OutDirWasSpecified)' == 'true' and (('$(WindowsAppContainer)' == 'true' and '$(GenerateProjectSpecificOutputFolder)' != 'false') or '$(GenerateProjectSpecificOutputFolder)' == 'true')">$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash('$(OutDir)$(ProjectName)'))</OutDir>
+    <OutDir Condition="'$(OutDir)' != '' and '$(OutDirWasSpecified)' == 'true' and (('$(WindowsAppContainer)' == 'true' and '$(GenerateProjectSpecificOutputFolder)' != 'false') or '$(GenerateProjectSpecificOutputFolder)' == 'true')">$(OutDir)$(ProjectName)\</OutDir>
 
     <AssemblyName Condition=" '$(AssemblyName)'=='' ">$(MSBuildProjectName)</AssemblyName>
     <TargetName Condition="'$(TargetName)' == '' and '$(OutputType)' == 'winmdobj' and '$(RootNamespace)' != ''">$(RootNamespace)</TargetName>
@@ -315,7 +318,7 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
         Condition intentionally omitted on this one, because it causes problems
         when we pick up the value of an environment variable named TargetDir
         -->
-    <TargetDir Condition="'$(OutDir)' != ''">$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)', '$(OutDir)'))</TargetDir>
+    <TargetDir Condition="'$(OutDir)' != ''">$([MSBuild]::Escape($([System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath(`$([System.IO.Path]::Combine(`$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)`, `$(OutDir)`))`))))</TargetDir>
 
     <!-- Example, C:\MyProjects\MyProject\bin\Debug\MyAssembly.dll -->
     <TargetPath Condition=" '$(TargetPath)' == '' ">$(TargetDir)$(TargetFileName)</TargetPath>
@@ -403,12 +406,12 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(_DebugSymbolsProduced)' == 'true' and '$(OutputType)' == 'winmdobj'">
     <WinMDExpOutputPdb Condition="'$(WinMDExpOutputPdb)' == ''">$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetName).pdb</WinMDExpOutputPdb>
-    <_WinMDDebugSymbolsOutputPath>$(OutDir)$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName('$(WinMDExpOutputPdb)'))</_WinMDDebugSymbolsOutputPath>
+    <_WinMDDebugSymbolsOutputPath>$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(OutDir)', $([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName('$(WinMDExpOutputPdb)'))))</_WinMDDebugSymbolsOutputPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(OutputType)' == 'winmdobj' and '$(DocumentationFile)'!=''">
     <WinMDOutputDocumentationFile Condition="'$(WinMDOutputDocumentationFile)' == ''">$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetName).xml</WinMDOutputDocumentationFile>
-    <_WinMDDocFileOutputPath>$(OutDir)$([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName('$(WinMDOutputDocumentationFile)'))</_WinMDDocFileOutputPath>
+    <_WinMDDocFileOutputPath>$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(OutDir)', $([System.IO.Path]::GetFileName('$(WinMDOutputDocumentationFile)'))))</_WinMDDocFileOutputPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(WinMDExpOutputWindowsMetadataFilename)' != ''">
@@ -480,7 +483,8 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 
   <!-- Output location for publish target. -->
   <PropertyGroup>
-    <PublishDir>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(PublishDir)', '$(OutputPath)app.publish'))))</PublishDir>
+    <PublishDir Condition="'$(PublishDir)' != '' and !HasTrailingSlash('$(PublishDir)')">$(PublishDir)\</PublishDir>
+    <PublishDir Condition="'$(PublishDir)'==''">$(OutputPath)app.publish\</PublishDir>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <!--
@@ -3409,7 +3413,7 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkMoniker)' != ''">
     <!-- Do not clean if we are going to default the path to the temp directory -->
     <TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesFileClean Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesFileClean)' == '' and '$(TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath)' != ''">true</TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesFileClean>
-    <TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath)' == ''">$(IntermediateOutputPath)$(TargetFrameworkMoniker).AssemblyAttributes$(DefaultLanguageSourceExtension)</TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath>
+    <TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath Condition="'$(TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath)' == ''">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(IntermediateOutputPath)','$(TargetFrameworkMoniker).AssemblyAttributes$(DefaultLanguageSourceExtension)'))</TargetFrameworkMonikerAssemblyAttributesPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <PropertyGroup>
@@ -4622,7 +4626,7 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
       <Output TaskParameter="DestinationFiles" ItemName="FinalWinmdExpArtifacts" />
     </Copy>
 
-    <Message Importance="High" Text="$(MSBuildProjectName) -&gt; $([MSBuild]::NormalizePath('$(_WindowsMetadataOutputPath)'))" Condition="'$(SkipCopyWinMDArtifact)' != 'true' and '$(_WindowsMetadataOutputPath)' != ''" />
+    <Message Importance="High" Text="$(MSBuildProjectName) -&gt; $([System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath('$(_WindowsMetadataOutputPath)'))" Condition="'$(SkipCopyWinMDArtifact)' != 'true' and '$(_WindowsMetadataOutputPath)' != ''" />
 
   </Target>
 
diff --git a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.props b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.props
index eaa9725f75e..32f5f05ab9f 100644
--- a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.props
+++ b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.props
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildProps)' == 'true' and '$(DirectoryBuildPropsPath)' == ''">
     <_DirectoryBuildPropsFile Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildPropsFile)' == ''">Directory.Build.props</_DirectoryBuildPropsFile>
     <_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath)' == ''">$([MSBuild]::GetDirectoryNameOfFileAbove($(MSBuildProjectDirectory), '$(_DirectoryBuildPropsFile)'))</_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath>
-    <DirectoryBuildPropsPath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath)' != '' and '$(_DirectoryBuildPropsFile)' != ''">$([MSBuild]::NormalizePath('$(_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath)', '$(_DirectoryBuildPropsFile)'))</DirectoryBuildPropsPath>
+    <DirectoryBuildPropsPath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath)' != '' and '$(_DirectoryBuildPropsFile)' != ''">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath)', '$(_DirectoryBuildPropsFile)'))</DirectoryBuildPropsPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <Import Project="$(DirectoryBuildPropsPath)" Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildProps)' == 'true' and exists('$(DirectoryBuildPropsPath)')"/>
@@ -44,16 +44,18 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
             The declaration of $(BaseIntermediateOutputPath) had to be moved up from Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets
             in order for the $(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath) to use it as a default.
         -->
-    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)', 'obj'))))</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
+    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath Condition="'$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)'=='' ">obj\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
+    <BaseIntermediateOutputPath Condition="!HasTrailingSlash('$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)')">$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)\</BaseIntermediateOutputPath>
     <_InitialBaseIntermediateOutputPath>$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)</_InitialBaseIntermediateOutputPath>
 
-    <MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>$([MSBuild]::EnsureTrailingSlash($([MSBuild]::ValueOrDefault('$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)', '$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)'))))</MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
+    <MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath Condition="'$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)' == '' ">$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)</MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
     <!--
         Import paths that are relative default to be relative to the importing file.  However, since MSBuildExtensionsPath
         defaults to BaseIntermediateOutputPath we expect it to be relative to the project directory.  So if the path is relative
         it needs to be made absolute based on the project directory.
       -->
-    <MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath Condition="!$([System.IO.Path]::IsPathRooted('$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)'))">$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)', '$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)'))</MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
+    <MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath Condition="'$([System.IO.Path]::IsPathRooted($(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)))' == 'false'">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)', '$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)'))</MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
+    <MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath Condition="!HasTrailingSlash('$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)')">$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)\</MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
     <ImportProjectExtensionProps Condition="'$(ImportProjectExtensionProps)' == ''">true</ImportProjectExtensionProps>
     <_InitialMSBuildProjectExtensionsPath Condition=" '$(ImportProjectExtensionProps)' == 'true' ">$(MSBuildProjectExtensionsPath)</_InitialMSBuildProjectExtensionsPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.targets b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.targets
index f14a2810499..753dad7cfaf 100644
--- a/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.targets
+++ b/src/Tasks/Microsoft.Common.targets
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildTargets)' == 'true' and '$(DirectoryBuildTargetsPath)' == ''">
     <_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)' == ''">Directory.Build.targets</_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile>
     <_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)' == ''">$([MSBuild]::GetDirectoryNameOfFileAbove($(MSBuildProjectDirectory), '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)'))</_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath>
-    <DirectoryBuildTargetsPath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)' != '' and '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)' != ''">$([MSBuild]::NormalizePath('$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)', '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)'))</DirectoryBuildTargetsPath>
+    <DirectoryBuildTargetsPath Condition="'$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)' != '' and '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)' != ''">$([System.IO.Path]::Combine('$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsBasePath)', '$(_DirectoryBuildTargetsFile)'))</DirectoryBuildTargetsPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <Import Project="$(DirectoryBuildTargetsPath)" Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildTargets)' == 'true' and exists('$(DirectoryBuildTargetsPath)')"/>