diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.Native.targets b/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.Native.targets
index a15b303c8e6236..3e61a7074d3fb4 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.Native.targets
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.Native.targets
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@
   <Target Name="WasmBuildNativeOnly" DependsOnTargets="$(WasmBuildNativeOnlyDependsOn)" Condition="'$(WasmBuildNative)' == 'true'" />
 
   <Target Name="_PrepareForWasmBuildNativeOnly">
-    <MakeDir Directories="$(_WasmIntermediateOutputPath)" />
-
     <ItemGroup>
       <_WasmAssembliesInternal Remove="@(_WasmAssembliesInternal)" />
       <_WasmAssembliesInternal Include="@(WasmAssembliesToBundle->Distinct())" />
diff --git a/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.targets b/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.targets
index 5ecd1dd77beed1..7de0e166aa0ff1 100644
--- a/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.targets
+++ b/src/mono/wasm/build/WasmApp.targets
@@ -82,8 +82,6 @@
     <!--<WasmStripAOTAssemblies Condition="'$(WasmStripAOTAssemblies)' == ''">$(RunAOTCompilation)</WasmStripAOTAssemblies>-->
     <WasmStripAOTAssemblies>false</WasmStripAOTAssemblies>
 
-    <!-- emcc, and mono-aot-cross don't like relative paths for output files -->
-    <_WasmIntermediateOutputPath>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(IntermediateOutputPath), 'wasm'))</_WasmIntermediateOutputPath>
     <_BeforeWasmBuildAppDependsOn />
   </PropertyGroup>
 
@@ -97,6 +95,7 @@
   <Target Name="_InitializeCommonProperties">
     <Error Condition="'$(MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackDir)' == '' and ('%(ResolvedRuntimePack.PackageDirectory)' == '' or !Exists(%(ResolvedRuntimePack.PackageDirectory)))"
            Text="Could not find %25(ResolvedRuntimePack.PackageDirectory)=%(ResolvedRuntimePack.PackageDirectory)" />
+    <Error Condition="'$(IntermediateOutputPath)' == ''" Text="%24(IntermediateOutputPath) property needs to be set" />
 
     <PropertyGroup>
       <MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackDir Condition="'$(MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackDir)' == ''">%(ResolvedRuntimePack.PackageDirectory)</MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackDir>
@@ -106,11 +105,14 @@
 
       <_WasmRuntimePackIncludeDir>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackRidNativeDir), 'include'))</_WasmRuntimePackIncludeDir>
       <_WasmRuntimePackSrcDir>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackRidNativeDir), 'src'))</_WasmRuntimePackSrcDir>
+
+      <_WasmIntermediateOutputPath>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(IntermediateOutputPath), 'wasm'))</_WasmIntermediateOutputPath>
     </PropertyGroup>
+
+    <MakeDir Directories="$(_WasmIntermediateOutputPath)" />
   </Target>
 
   <Target Name="_BeforeWasmBuildApp" DependsOnTargets="$(_BeforeWasmBuildAppDependsOn)">
-    <Error Condition="'$(IntermediateOutputPath)' == ''" Text="%24(IntermediateOutputPath) property needs to be set" />
     <Error Condition="!Exists('$(MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackRidDir)')" Text="MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackRidDir=$(MicrosoftNetCoreAppRuntimePackRidDir) doesn't exist" />
     <Error Condition="@(WasmAssembliesToBundle->Count()) == 0" Text="WasmAssembliesToBundle item is empty. No assemblies to process" />
 
@@ -122,7 +124,6 @@
       <WasmAppDir>$([MSBuild]::NormalizeDirectory($(WasmAppDir)))</WasmAppDir>
     </PropertyGroup>
 
-    <MakeDir Directories="$(_WasmIntermediateOutputPath)" />
     <ItemGroup>
       <_WasmAssembliesInternal Include="@(WasmAssembliesToBundle->Distinct())" />