diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Templates/WasmTemplateTests.cs b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Templates/WasmTemplateTests.cs
index af1d2a92a9e2ee..bde1cfdd09da7d 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Templates/WasmTemplateTests.cs
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/Wasm.Build.Tests/Templates/WasmTemplateTests.cs
@@ -312,10 +312,12 @@ public async Task LibraryMode(bool useWasmSdk, bool isPublish)
                 });
             }
 
+            // Publishing without WASM SDK is expected to fail
+            bool expectSuccess = useWasmSdk || !isPublish;
             if (isPublish)
-                PublishProject(info, config, new PublishOptions(AssertAppBundle: useWasmSdk));
+                PublishProject(info, config, new PublishOptions(AssertAppBundle: useWasmSdk, ExpectSuccess: expectSuccess));
             else
-                BuildProject(info, config, new BuildOptions(AssertAppBundle: useWasmSdk));
+                BuildProject(info, config, new BuildOptions(AssertAppBundle: useWasmSdk, ExpectSuccess: expectSuccess));
 
             if (useWasmSdk)
             {