diff --git a/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/Helpers/DotNetProcess.cs b/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/Helpers/DotNetProcess.cs
index 40ab06572..fc9c4a5e7 100644
--- a/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/Helpers/DotNetProcess.cs
+++ b/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/Helpers/DotNetProcess.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#region Copyright notice and license
+#region Copyright notice and license
 
 // Copyright 2019 The gRPC Authors
 //
@@ -54,9 +54,10 @@ public DotNetProcess()
     public int ExitCode => Process.ExitCode;
     public bool HasExited => Process.HasExited;
 
-    public void Start(string arguments)
+    public void Start(string fileName, string? arguments)
     {
-        Process.StartInfo.Arguments = arguments;
+        Process.StartInfo.FileName = fileName;
+        Process.StartInfo.Arguments = arguments ?? string.Empty;
         Process.Start();
 
         Process.BeginOutputReadLine();
diff --git a/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/LinkerTests.cs b/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/LinkerTests.cs
index 8e26122bf..7a78c909a 100644
--- a/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/LinkerTests.cs
+++ b/test/FunctionalTests/Linker/LinkerTests.cs
@@ -33,8 +33,21 @@ public class LinkerTests
 {
     private static readonly TimeSpan Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(120);
 
+#if NET8_0_OR_GREATER
     [Test]
-    public async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient_Success()
+    public async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient_Aot_Success()
+    {
+        await RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient(publishAot: true);
+    }
+#endif
+
+    [Test]
+    public async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient_Trimming_Success()
+    {
+        await RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient(publishAot: false);
+    }
+
+    private async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient(bool publishAot)
     {
         var projectDirectory = typeof(LinkerTests).Assembly
             .GetCustomAttributes<AssemblyMetadataAttribute>()
@@ -51,13 +64,11 @@ public async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient_Success()
         try
         {
             using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
-            using var websiteProcess = new WebsiteProcess();
-            using var clientProcess = new DotNetProcess();
 
             try
             {
-                var publishWebsiteTask = PublishAppAsync(projectDirectory + @"\..\..\testassets\LinkerTestsWebsite\LinkerTestsWebsite.csproj", linkerTestsWebsitePath, cts.Token);
-                var publishClientTask = PublishAppAsync(projectDirectory + @"\..\..\testassets\LinkerTestsClient\LinkerTestsClient.csproj", linkerTestsClientPath, cts.Token);
+                var publishWebsiteTask = PublishAppAsync(projectDirectory + @"\..\..\testassets\LinkerTestsWebsite\LinkerTestsWebsite.csproj", linkerTestsWebsitePath, publishAot, cts.Token);
+                var publishClientTask = PublishAppAsync(projectDirectory + @"\..\..\testassets\LinkerTestsClient\LinkerTestsClient.csproj", linkerTestsClientPath, publishAot, cts.Token);
 
                 await Task.WhenAll(publishWebsiteTask, publishClientTask).TimeoutAfter(Timeout);
                 Console.WriteLine("Successfully published app.");
@@ -67,12 +78,15 @@ public async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient_Success()
                 cts.Dispose();
             }
 
+            using var websiteProcess = new WebsiteProcess();
+            using var clientProcess = new DotNetProcess();
+
             try
             {
-                websiteProcess.Start(Path.Combine(linkerTestsWebsitePath, "LinkerTestsWebsite.dll"));
+                websiteProcess.Start(BuildStartPath(linkerTestsWebsitePath, "LinkerTestsWebsite"), arguments: null);
                 await websiteProcess.WaitForReadyAsync().TimeoutAfter(Timeout);
 
-                clientProcess.Start(Path.Combine(linkerTestsClientPath, $"LinkerTestsClient.dll {websiteProcess.ServerPort}"));
+                clientProcess.Start(BuildStartPath(linkerTestsClientPath, "LinkerTestsClient"), arguments: websiteProcess.ServerPort!.ToString());
                 await clientProcess.WaitForExitAsync().TimeoutAfter(Timeout);
             }
             finally
@@ -92,6 +106,13 @@ public async Task RunWebsiteAndCallWithClient_Success()
         }
     }
 
+    private static string BuildStartPath(string path, string projectName)
+    {
+        // Executable on Windows has an *.exe extension.
+        // We don't need to add it to the start path because *.exe is in the PATHEXT env var.
+        return Path.Combine(path, projectName);
+    }
+
     private static void EnsureDeleted(string path)
     {
         if (Directory.Exists(path))
@@ -100,7 +121,7 @@ private static void EnsureDeleted(string path)
         }
     }
 
-    private static async Task PublishAppAsync(string path, string outputPath, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    private static async Task PublishAppAsync(string path, string outputPath, bool publishAot, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
         var resolvedPath = Path.GetFullPath(path);
         Console.WriteLine($"Publishing {resolvedPath}");
@@ -110,7 +131,9 @@ private static async Task PublishAppAsync(string path, string outputPath, Cancel
 
         try
         {
-            process.Start($"publish {resolvedPath} -r {GetRuntimeIdentifier()} -c Release -o {outputPath} --self-contained");
+            // The AppPublishAot parameter is used to tell the compiler to publish as AOT.
+            // AppPublishAot is used instead of PublishAot because dependency projects have non-AOT targets. Setting "PublishAot=true" causes build errors.
+            process.Start("dotnet", $"publish {resolvedPath} -r {GetRuntimeIdentifier()} -c Release -o {outputPath} -p:AppPublishAot={publishAot} --self-contained");
             await process.WaitForExitAsync().TimeoutAfter(Timeout);
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
diff --git a/testassets/LinkerTestsClient/LinkerTestsClient.csproj b/testassets/LinkerTestsClient/LinkerTestsClient.csproj
index 46c1308c3..4834024ce 100644
--- a/testassets/LinkerTestsClient/LinkerTestsClient.csproj
+++ b/testassets/LinkerTestsClient/LinkerTestsClient.csproj
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <PublishTrimmed>true</PublishTrimmed>
+    <PublishAot>$(AppPublishAot)</PublishAot>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/testassets/LinkerTestsWebsite/LinkerTestsWebsite.csproj b/testassets/LinkerTestsWebsite/LinkerTestsWebsite.csproj
index ed6d46389..5d4cc37f0 100644
--- a/testassets/LinkerTestsWebsite/LinkerTestsWebsite.csproj
+++ b/testassets/LinkerTestsWebsite/LinkerTestsWebsite.csproj
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
     <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
     <PublishTrimmed>true</PublishTrimmed>
+    <PublishAot>$(AppPublishAot)</PublishAot>    
     <!--
       ASP.NET Core SDK has partial trimming in .NET 7. Change to full because gRPC works with full
       and it removes linker warnings from unused ASP.NET Core assemblies.