diff --git a/src/tests/Directory.Merged.props b/src/tests/Directory.Merged.props
index 04c63ce367891..6bd9586b89573 100644
--- a/src/tests/Directory.Merged.props
+++ b/src/tests/Directory.Merged.props
@@ -3,6 +3,31 @@
     <InMergedTestDirectory>true</InMergedTestDirectory>
     <BuildAsStandalone Condition="'$(BuildAsStandalone)' == ''">false</BuildAsStandalone>
 
+    <!--
+      We need to rewrite the assembly name for some tests in merged groups:
+      1. Merged test groups require consistency between the various names of tests in order
+         to reference them properly.
+      2. IL tests specify the assembly name explicitly in the source file via
+         ".assembly" lines.
+      3. Several tests can use the same IL file but build it with different command line
+         options (_il_d vs _il_r).
+
+      Note that C# tests (which may have _d, _do, _r, and _do variants) do not require this
+      because the assembly name is not embedded in the source file.
+
+      An alternative to the renaming here would be to build the different IL variants with
+      different assembly names. Unfortunately, this isn't supported from the command line.
+      One possible option would be to create an IL source file with something like
+        #define ASSEMBLY_NAME "TESTNAME_il_d"
+      and add it to the _beginning_ of the IL source list (ilasm concatenates all source
+      files). Then change the test to include ".assembly ASSEMBLY_NAME".
+    -->
+    <!--
+      Note that because this file is included from Directory.Build.props (processed before
+      the main project file for a test), the project file can override this.
+      Directory.Build.targets is typically too late as SDK .targets files will have already
+      been processed and may have used the value.
+    -->
     <AssemblyName Condition="'$(BuildAsStandalone)' != 'true'">$(MSBuildProjectName.Replace('_il_d', '').Replace('_il_r', ''))</AssemblyName>
   </PropertyGroup>
 </Project>