diff --git a/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Build/BuildCommandDefinition.cs b/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Build/BuildCommandDefinition.cs
index 65bb225e8de4..2b204fc9eecc 100644
--- a/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Build/BuildCommandDefinition.cs
+++ b/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Build/BuildCommandDefinition.cs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ internal sealed class BuildCommandDefinition : Command
 
     public readonly Option<bool> NoRestoreOption = CommonOptions.CreateNoRestoreOption();
 
-    public readonly Option<bool> SelfContainedOption = CommonOptions.CreateSelfContainedOption();
+    public readonly Option<bool?> SelfContainedOption = CommonOptions.CreateSelfContainedOption();
 
     public readonly Option<bool> NoSelfContainedOption = CommonOptions.CreateNoSelfContainedOption();
 
diff --git a/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Publish/PublishCommandDefinition.cs b/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Publish/PublishCommandDefinition.cs
index 7fcf76edb936..b58dc9742f63 100644
--- a/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Publish/PublishCommandDefinition.cs
+++ b/src/Cli/dotnet/Commands/Publish/PublishCommandDefinition.cs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ internal sealed class PublishCommandDefinition : Command
 
     public readonly Option<bool> NoRestoreOption = CommonOptions.CreateNoRestoreOption();
 
-    public readonly Option<bool> SelfContainedOption = CommonOptions.CreateSelfContainedOption();
+    public readonly Option<bool?> SelfContainedOption = CommonOptions.CreateSelfContainedOption();
 
     public readonly Option<bool> NoSelfContainedOption = CommonOptions.CreateNoSelfContainedOption();
 
diff --git a/src/Cli/dotnet/CommonOptions.cs b/src/Cli/dotnet/CommonOptions.cs
index 3f54e0d0db2c..eb75daec6555 100644
--- a/src/Cli/dotnet/CommonOptions.cs
+++ b/src/Cli/dotnet/CommonOptions.cs
@@ -277,12 +277,13 @@ public static Option<bool> CreateDisableBuildServersOption() =>
         Arity = ArgumentArity.Zero,
     };
 
-    public static Option<bool> CreateSelfContainedOption() =>
-        new Option<bool>("--self-contained", "--sc")
+    public static Option<bool?> CreateSelfContainedOption() =>
+        new Option<bool?>("--self-contained", "--sc")
         {
-            Description = CliStrings.SelfContainedOptionDescription
+            Description = CliStrings.SelfContainedOptionDescription,
+            Arity = ArgumentArity.ZeroOrOne
         }
-        .ForwardIfEnabled([$"--property:SelfContained=true", "--property:_CommandLineDefinedSelfContained=true"]);
+        .ForwardAsMany(o => o.HasValue ? [$"--property:SelfContained={o.Value}", "--property:_CommandLineDefinedSelfContained=true"] : []);
 
     public static Option<bool> CreateNoSelfContainedOption() =>
         new Option<bool>("--no-self-contained")