From 49a1305bfdb3bf9effd0b414b7a237c4a0b193e2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Rolf Bjarne Kvinge <rolf@xamarin.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2026 17:46:07 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] [msbuild] Deprecate NoBindingEmbedding=false in .NET 11,
 remove in .NET 12

Setting `NoBindingEmbedding=false` (embedding native libraries in the managed
assembly) should no longer be necessary (and doesn't even work with
.xcframeworks, only .frameworks, .a and .dylib files).

However, supporting it duplicates the testing matrix for binding projects, and
it's also a source of bugs, so start the process of removing support for it.

Setting `NoBindingEmbedding=false` will now be deprecated in .NET 11 with a
build warning, and produces a build error in .NET 12+. And then at some point
after .NET 12+ we can remove any supporting code/tests.

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 docs/building-apps/build-properties.md                    | 3 +++
 msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.ObjCBinding.targets | 2 ++
 msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props               | 4 ++++
 3 files changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md b/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md
index 78a10c4c2d9d..f9dda3f67192 100644
--- a/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md
+++ b/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md
@@ -1065,6 +1065,9 @@ Default:
 
 ## NoBindingEmbedding
 
+> [!WARNING]
+> Setting this property to `false` is deprecated in .NET 11 and will produce a build error in .NET 12+.
+
 A boolean property that specifies whether native libraries in binding projects should be embedded
 in the managed assembly, or put into a `.resources` directory next to the managed assembly.
 
diff --git a/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.ObjCBinding.targets b/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.ObjCBinding.targets
index f19bd85afd39..8344ee9b09ea 100644
--- a/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.ObjCBinding.targets
+++ b/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.ObjCBinding.targets
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ Copyright (C) 2020 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
 	</Target>
 
 	<Target Name="_PrepareNativeReferences" Condition="'$(_DisableBindingProjectBuild)' != 'true'" DependsOnTargets="_SanitizeNativeReferences">
+		<Warning Condition="'$(_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated)' == 'true'" Text="Setting 'NoBindingEmbedding' to 'false' is deprecated and will not be supported in .NET 12+. Please remove this property from your project file." />
+		<Error Condition="'$(_NoBindingEmbeddingRemoved)' == 'true'" Text="Setting 'NoBindingEmbedding' to 'false' is not supported in .NET 12+. Please remove this property from your project file." />
 		<PrepareNativeReferences
 			IntermediateOutputPath="$(IntermediateOutputPath)"
 			NativeReferences="@(NativeReference)"
diff --git a/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props b/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props
index 09c985036c00..4cb770005d8a 100644
--- a/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props
+++ b/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props
@@ -244,6 +244,10 @@ Copyright (C) 2020 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
 		<!-- Default NoBindingEmbedding to 'true' for .NET projects, it's the new way -->
 		<NoBindingEmbedding Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' == ''">true</NoBindingEmbedding>
 
+		<!-- NoBindingEmbedding=false is deprecated in .NET 11, and removed in .NET 12+ -->
+		<_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' != 'true' And $([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 11.0)) And !$([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 12.0))">true</_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated>
+		<_NoBindingEmbeddingRemoved Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' != 'true' And $([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 12.0))">true</_NoBindingEmbeddingRemoved>
+
 		<!-- We don't want to build a binding project when in design time mode, and not bundling original resources, because we might end up requiring a connection to a remote mac, which is not a good idea for a supposedly quick design-time build. -->
 		<_DisableBindingProjectBuild Condition="'$(_DisableBindingProjectBuild)' == '' And '$(BundleOriginalResources)' != 'true' And '$(DesignTimeBuild)' == 'true'">true</_DisableBindingProjectBuild>
 	</PropertyGroup>

From 5c83e8249e67f3d56fb3670ac43fe06f48aefa8a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Rolf Bjarne Kvinge <rolf@xamarin.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2026 18:01:34 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Deprecate right away, no need to wait for .NET 11.

---
 msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props b/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props
index 4cb770005d8a..76d4df36608d 100644
--- a/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props
+++ b/msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.props
@@ -244,8 +244,8 @@ Copyright (C) 2020 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
 		<!-- Default NoBindingEmbedding to 'true' for .NET projects, it's the new way -->
 		<NoBindingEmbedding Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' == ''">true</NoBindingEmbedding>
 
-		<!-- NoBindingEmbedding=false is deprecated in .NET 11, and removed in .NET 12+ -->
-		<_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' != 'true' And $([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 11.0)) And !$([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 12.0))">true</_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated>
+		<!-- NoBindingEmbedding=false is deprecated in .NET 10, and removed in .NET 12+ -->
+		<_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' != 'true' And !$([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 12.0))">true</_NoBindingEmbeddingDeprecated>
 		<_NoBindingEmbeddingRemoved Condition="'$(NoBindingEmbedding)' != 'true' And $([MSBuild]::VersionGreaterThanOrEquals($(TargetFrameworkVersion), 12.0))">true</_NoBindingEmbeddingRemoved>
 
 		<!-- We don't want to build a binding project when in design time mode, and not bundling original resources, because we might end up requiring a connection to a remote mac, which is not a good idea for a supposedly quick design-time build. -->

From 4431207567777aee968066b9c3c1a046934613be Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Rolf Bjarne Kvinge <rokvin@microsoft.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 13:52:27 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Apply suggestion from @rolfbjarne

---
 docs/building-apps/build-properties.md | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md b/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md
index f9dda3f67192..ace131c722fd 100644
--- a/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md
+++ b/docs/building-apps/build-properties.md
@@ -1066,7 +1066,7 @@ Default:
 ## NoBindingEmbedding
 
 > [!WARNING]
-> Setting this property to `false` is deprecated in .NET 11 and will produce a build error in .NET 12+.
+> Setting this property to `false` is currently deprecated and will produce a build error in .NET 12+.
 
 A boolean property that specifies whether native libraries in binding projects should be embedded
 in the managed assembly, or put into a `.resources` directory next to the managed assembly.