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'Type' is ambiguous in the namespace 'NamespaceName' - Builds in Debug mode, Fails in Release Mode

The title is quite self explanatory.

I spent a day working on this project, everything was fine until I tried to publish the changes for deployment. First I thought the issue was with the actual publishing but then I realised that the issue actually only happens when building the project in release mode.

The solution is made up of various projects. The main project is a .Net Framework Web Forms application. Most of the other projects are class libraries. The programming languages being used are all .NET based. The Main project is written in VB.Net, the referenced projects are a mixture of C# and VB.Net.

Originally the Main project was running in .Net Framework 4.6.2, and some other referenced projects were running in .Net Framework 4.6.0. Recently, we had an issue where we upgraded the referenced projects to 4.6.2 too.

In Debug I have no issues whatsoever. However, I suspect when the change in framework happened, something got messed up in the solution and caused the project to stop building in release mode.

The errors I am seeing are all related to ambiguity.

  • 'CloudStorageAccount' is ambiguous in the namespace 'Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage'
  • 'CloudFileClient' is ambiguous in the namespace 'Microsoft.Windows.Azure.Storage.File'
  • 'CustomClassName' is ambiguous in the namespace 'ExternalClassLibrary.NamespaceName'

One must keep in mind that these same supposedly ambiguous classes work in Debug mode, meaning obviously the errors are incorrect. I’ve also made sure there are no duplicate CustomClassName/s. I also tried deleting the class names mentioned within the errors and re-creating them in different namespaces (since these cases are completely within our control). Nothing seems to make a difference.

I have tried to revert the Frameworks to the original versions (which were successfully building in release mode before) - this also made no difference whatsoever. Note that in debug mode, everything works regardless of framework version.

Tried looking into NuGet packages - restoring and re-installing some packages I suspected could be causing the issue; also to no avail.

The following is the list of NuGet packages as well as the file-based references from the project's .vbproj file. Had to remove some references which I thought are unlikely related to the issue, as the whole list exceeded the 30000 characters limit of StackOverflow questions. (These were DLLs that are built as part of any new project, and the rest of the DLLs that come bundled as part of DotNetOpenAuth library)

  <ItemGroup>
<Reference Include="Antlr3.Runtime, Version=3.4.1.9004, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=eb42632606e9261f, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Antlr.3.4.1.9004\lib\Antlr3.Runtime.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="DotNetOpenAuth.Core, Version=4.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=2780ccd10d57b246, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\DotNetOpenAuth.Core.4.3.4.13329\lib\net45-full\DotNetOpenAuth.Core.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="DotNetOpenAuth.Core.UI, Version=4.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=2780ccd10d57b246, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\DotNetOpenAuth.Core.UI.4.3.4.13329\lib\net45-full\DotNetOpenAuth.Core.UI.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\EntityFramework.6.2.0\lib\net45\EntityFramework.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="EntityFramework.SqlServer, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\EntityFramework.6.2.0\lib\net45\EntityFramework.SqlServer.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AI.Agent.Intercept, Version=2.0.6.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Agent.Intercept.2.0.6\lib\net45\Microsoft.AI.Agent.Intercept.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AI.DependencyCollector, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.DependencyCollector.2.2.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.AI.DependencyCollector.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AI.PerfCounterCollector, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.PerfCounterCollector.2.2.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.AI.PerfCounterCollector.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AI.ServerTelemetryChannel, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WindowsServer.TelemetryChannel.2.2.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.AI.ServerTelemetryChannel.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AI.Web, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Web.2.2.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.AI.Web.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AI.WindowsServer, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WindowsServer.2.2.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.AI.WindowsServer.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights, Version=2.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.2.2.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AspNet.FriendlyUrls, Version=1.0.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.FriendlyUrls.Core.1.0.2\lib\net45\Microsoft.AspNet.FriendlyUrls.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AspNet.SessionState.SessionStateModule, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.SessionState.SessionStateModule.1.1.0\lib\Net462\Microsoft.AspNet.SessionState.SessionStateModule.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization.WebForms, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization.WebForms.1.1.3\lib\net45\Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization.WebForms.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.1.0.0\lib\net45\Microsoft.CodeDom.Providers.DotNetCompilerPlatform.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.CSharp" />
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Data.Edm, Version=5.6.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Data.Edm.5.6.4\lib\net40\Microsoft.Data.Edm.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Data.OData, Version=5.6.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Data.OData.5.6.4\lib\net40\Microsoft.Data.OData.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Data.Services.Client, Version=5.6.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Data.Services.Client.5.6.4\lib\net40\Microsoft.Data.Services.Client.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens, Version=5.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens.5.5.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.JsonWebTokens.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Logging, Version=5.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Logging.5.5.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Logging.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols, Version=5.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.5.5.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect, Version=5.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect.5.5.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.OpenIdConnect.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.WsFederation, Version=5.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.WsFederation.5.3.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Protocols.WsFederation.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens, Version=5.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.5.5.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml, Version=5.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.5.3.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.IdentityModel.Xml, Version=5.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Xml.5.3.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.IdentityModel.Xml.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb.4.0.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.Owin.Host.SystemWeb.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.Security.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security.ActiveDirectory, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.ActiveDirectory.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.Security.ActiveDirectory.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security.Cookies, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.Cookies.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.Security.Cookies.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security.Jwt, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.Jwt.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.Security.Jwt.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security.OAuth, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.OAuth.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.Security.OAuth.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security.OpenIdConnect, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.OpenIdConnect.4.0.1\lib\net45\Microsoft.Owin.Security.OpenIdConnect.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Owin.Security.WsFederation, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Owin.Security.WsFederation.4.0.0\lib\net451\Microsoft.Owin.Security.WsFederation.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Rest.ClientRuntime, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Rest.ClientRuntime.2.3.20\lib\net452\Microsoft.Rest.ClientRuntime.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Rest.ClientRuntime.Azure, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Rest.ClientRuntime.Azure.3.3.19\lib\net452\Microsoft.Rest.ClientRuntime.Azure.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.1.0.0.0\lib\net40\Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.Web.RedisSessionStateProvider, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Web.RedisSessionStateProvider.4.0.1\lib\net462\Microsoft.Web.RedisSessionStateProvider.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Configuration, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
  <HintPath>..\..\..\References\Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Configuration.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage, Version=4.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
  <HintPath>..\..\..\References\Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Storage.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Newtonsoft.Json, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=30ad4fe6b2a6aeed, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <SpecificVersion>False</SpecificVersion>
  <HintPath>..\..\..\References\Newtonsoft.Json.11.0.1\lib\net45\Newtonsoft.Json.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Owin, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=f0ebd12fd5e55cc5, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Owin.1.0\lib\net40\Owin.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Pipelines.Sockets.Unofficial, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=42ea0a778e13fbe2, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Pipelines.Sockets.Unofficial.1.0.7\lib\net461\Pipelines.Sockets.Unofficial.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="PresentationCore">
  <Private>False</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="StackExchange.Redis, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c219ff1ca8c2ce46, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\StackExchange.Redis.2.0.519\lib\net461\StackExchange.Redis.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System" />
<Reference Include="System.Buffers, Version=4.0.2.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Buffers.4.4.0\lib\netstandard2.0\System.Buffers.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Data" />
<Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
<Reference Include="System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter.4.5.0\lib\net461\System.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounter.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
<Reference Include="System.IdentityModel" />
<Reference Include="System.IdentityModel.Tokens.Jwt, Version=5.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.IdentityModel.Tokens.Jwt.5.5.0\lib\net451\System.IdentityModel.Tokens.Jwt.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.IO.Pipelines, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.IO.Pipelines.4.5.1\lib\netstandard2.0\System.IO.Pipelines.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Memory, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Memory.4.5.1\lib\netstandard2.0\System.Memory.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Net" />
<Reference Include="System.Net.Http, Version=4.1.1.3, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Net.Http.4.3.4\lib\net46\System.Net.Http.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Net.Http.Formatting, Version=5.2.7.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client.5.2.7\lib\net45\System.Net.Http.Formatting.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Net.Http.WebRequest, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.Net.Http.2.0.20505.0\lib\net40\System.Net.Http.WebRequest.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>True</Private>
  <Private>True</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Numerics" />
<Reference Include="System.Numerics.Vectors, Version=4.1.3.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Numerics.Vectors.4.4.0\lib\net46\System.Numerics.Vectors.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Runtime" />
<Reference Include="System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe, Version=4.0.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe.4.5.0\lib\netstandard2.0\System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Runtime.Serialization" />
<Reference Include="System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms.4.3.0\lib\net46\System.Security.Cryptography.Algorithms.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Security.Cryptography.Encoding, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Security.Cryptography.Encoding.4.3.0\lib\net46\System.Security.Cryptography.Encoding.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Security.Cryptography.Primitives, Version=4.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Security.Cryptography.Primitives.4.3.0\lib\net46\System.Security.Cryptography.Primitives.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.4.3.0\lib\net46\System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Spatial, Version=5.6.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Spatial.5.6.4\lib\net40\System.Spatial.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Threading.Channels, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Threading.Channels.4.5.0\lib\netstandard2.0\System.Threading.Channels.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions, Version=4.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=cc7b13ffcd2ddd51, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions.4.5.1\lib\netstandard2.0\System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Extensions" />
<Reference Include="System.Web.Helpers, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.4\lib\net45\System.Web.Helpers.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Http, Version=5.2.7.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core.5.2.7\lib\net45\System.Web.Http.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Http.WebHost, Version=5.2.7.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost.5.2.7\lib\net45\System.Web.Http.WebHost.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.2.4.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc.5.2.4\lib\net45\System.Web.Mvc.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Optimization, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization.1.1.3\lib\net40\System.Web.Optimization.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.Razor.3.2.4\lib\net45\System.Web.Razor.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.Routing" />
<Reference Include="System.Web.WebPages, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.4\lib\net45\System.Web.WebPages.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.WebPages.Deployment, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.4\lib\net45\System.Web.WebPages.Deployment.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
  <HintPath>..\packages\Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.3.2.4\lib\net45\System.Web.WebPages.Razor.dll</HintPath>
</Reference>

Solution

  • I ended up managing at the end. Basically I was referencing a project which had a Release build instruction to merge its references into the same DLL. This configuration was required for a different scenario; one which I was not aware of. In my case I was already referencing the included DLLs directly from my project (as I required them for different reasons), thus for the build there were 2 versions of the same classes. This explains the ambiguous errors. The reason why it only happened in Release was simply that the instruction was set to work in that configuration only. The solution was simply to create another configuration that refrains from merging for my case. And voila'!