diff --git a/src/Test/Utilities/Desktop/ObjectReference.cs b/src/Test/Utilities/Desktop/ObjectReference.cs
index 958861ae7e65c..842be37894efc 100644
--- a/src/Test/Utilities/Desktop/ObjectReference.cs
+++ b/src/Test/Utilities/Desktop/ObjectReference.cs
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
-using System.Threading;
-using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Xunit;
 
 namespace Roslyn.Test.Utilities
@@ -97,54 +95,6 @@ private void ReleaseAndGarbageCollect()
             }
         }
 
-        #region Async
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Asserts that the underlying object has been released.
-        /// </summary>
-        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
-        public async Task AssertReleasedAsync()
-        {
-            await ReleaseAndGarbageCollectAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
-
-            Assert.False(_weakReference.IsAlive, "Reference should have been released but was not.");
-        }
-
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Asserts that the underlying object is still being held.
-        /// </summary>
-        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
-        public async Task AssertHeldAsync()
-        {
-            await ReleaseAndGarbageCollectAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
-
-            // Since we are asserting it's still held, if it is held we can just recover our strong reference again
-            _strongReference = (T)_weakReference.Target;
-            Assert.True(_strongReference != null, "Reference should still be held.");
-        }
-
-        [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
-        private async Task ReleaseAndGarbageCollectAsync()
-        {
-            if (_strongReferenceRetrievedOutsideScopedCall)
-            {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException($"The strong reference being held by the {nameof(ObjectReference<T>)} was retrieved via a call to {nameof(GetReference)}. Since the CLR might have cached a temporary somewhere in your stack, assertions can no longer be made about the correctness of lifetime.");
-            }
-
-            _strongReference = null;
-
-            // We'll loop 1000 times, or until the weak reference disappears. When we're trying to assert that the
-            // object is released, once the weak reference goes away, we know we're good. But if we're trying to assert
-            // that the object is held, our only real option is to know to do it "enough" times; but if it goes away then
-            // we are definitely done.
-            for (var i = 0; i < 1000 && _weakReference.IsAlive; i++)
-            {
-                GC.Collect();
-                GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers();
-                await Task.Yield();
-            }
-        }
-        #endregion
-
         /// <summary>
         /// Provides the underlying strong refernce to the given action. This method is marked not be inlined, to ensure that no temporaries are left
         /// on the stack that might still root the strong reference. The caller must not "leak" the object out of the given action for any lifetime
diff --git a/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LegacyProject/CSharpReferencesTests.cs b/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LegacyProject/CSharpReferencesTests.cs
index 0be3dea13d2bd..6ffcf7b6352aa 100644
--- a/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LegacyProject/CSharpReferencesTests.cs
+++ b/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LegacyProject/CSharpReferencesTests.cs
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ public void AddingReferenceToProjectMetadataPromotesToProjectReference()
                 project2.OnImportAdded(@"c:\project1.dll", "project1");
 
                 Assert.Equal(true, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project1.Id));
+
+                project2.Disconnect();
+                project1.Disconnect();
             }
         }
 
@@ -50,6 +53,9 @@ public void AddCyclicProjectMetadataReferences()
 
                 Assert.Equal(true, project1.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project2.Id));
                 Assert.Equal(false, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project1.Id));
+
+                project2.Disconnect();
+                project1.Disconnect();
             }
         }
 
@@ -67,6 +73,9 @@ public void AddCyclicProjectReferences()
 
                 Assert.Equal(true, project1.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project2.Id));
                 Assert.Equal(false, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project1.Id));
+
+                project2.Disconnect();
+                project1.Disconnect();
             }
         }
 
@@ -90,6 +99,11 @@ public void AddCyclicProjectReferencesDeep()
                 Assert.Equal(true, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project3.Id));
                 Assert.Equal(true, project3.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project4.Id));
                 Assert.Equal(false, project4.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project1.Id));
+
+                project4.Disconnect();
+                project3.Disconnect();
+                project2.Disconnect();
+                project1.Disconnect();
             }
         }
 
@@ -116,6 +130,9 @@ public void AddingProjectReferenceAndUpdateReferenceBinPath()
 
                 // Verify project reference updated after bin path change.
                 Assert.Equal(true, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(pr => pr.ProjectId == project1.Id));
+
+                project2.Disconnect();
+                project1.Disconnect();
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LifetimeTests.cs b/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LifetimeTests.cs
index 9895a01ce2d56..fa6248921b815 100644
--- a/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LifetimeTests.cs
+++ b/src/VisualStudio/CSharp/Test/ProjectSystemShim/LifetimeTests.cs
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Linq;
-using System.Threading;
-using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim.Framework;
 using Roslyn.Test.Utilities;
 using Xunit;
@@ -15,7 +13,7 @@ public class LifetimeTests
         [WpfFact]
         [Trait(Traits.Feature, Traits.Features.ProjectSystemShims)]
         [WorkItem(10358, "https://github.com/dotnet/roslyn/issues/10358")]
-        public async Task DisconnectingAProjectDoesNotLeak()
+        public void DisconnectingAProjectDoesNotLeak()
         {
             using (var environment = new TestEnvironment())
             {
@@ -24,7 +22,7 @@ public async Task DisconnectingAProjectDoesNotLeak()
                 Assert.Single(environment.Workspace.CurrentSolution.Projects);
 
                 project.UseReference(p => p.Disconnect());
-                await project.AssertReleasedAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
+                project.AssertReleased();
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Def/Implementation/ProjectSystem/VisualStudioProjectTracker.cs b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Def/Implementation/ProjectSystem/VisualStudioProjectTracker.cs
index c6e26fccf8f39..b20c5ccb5f2ad 100644
--- a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Def/Implementation/ProjectSystem/VisualStudioProjectTracker.cs
+++ b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Def/Implementation/ProjectSystem/VisualStudioProjectTracker.cs
@@ -136,11 +136,7 @@ public VisualStudioProjectTracker(IServiceProvider serviceProvider, HostWorkspac
         private void ScheduleForegroundAffinitizedAction(Action action)
         {
             AssertIsBackground();
-            ScheduleForegroundAffinitizedAction_NoBackgroundAssert(action);
-        }
 
-        private void ScheduleForegroundAffinitizedAction_NoBackgroundAssert(Action action)
-        {
             lock (_gate)
             {
                 _taskForForegroundAffinitizedActions = _taskForForegroundAffinitizedActions.SafeContinueWith(_ => action(), ForegroundTaskScheduler);
@@ -368,8 +364,7 @@ private void StartPushingToWorkspaceAndNotifyOfOpenDocuments_Foreground(IEnumera
         /// </summary>
         internal void RemoveProject(AbstractProject project)
         {
-            // always schedule on queue so removal happens after other queued actions.
-            ScheduleForegroundAffinitizedAction_NoBackgroundAssert(() => RemoveProject_Foreground(project));
+            ExecuteOrScheduleForegroundAffinitizedAction(() => RemoveProject_Foreground(project));
         }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicCompilerOptionsTests.vb b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicCompilerOptionsTests.vb
index d02e95d7e6714..1b82262cbde41 100644
--- a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicCompilerOptionsTests.vb
+++ b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicCompilerOptionsTests.vb
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
 
                 Assert.Contains(New KeyValuePair(Of String, Object)("VBC_VER", PredefinedPreprocessorSymbols.CurrentVersionNumber), options.PreprocessorSymbols)
                 Assert.Contains(New KeyValuePair(Of String, Object)("TARGET", "exe"), options.PreprocessorSymbols)
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 Dim options = DirectCast(workspaceProject.ParseOptions, VisualBasicParseOptions)
 
                 Assert.Equal(DocumentationMode.Diagnose, options.DocumentationMode)
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -58,6 +62,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 Dim options = DirectCast(workspaceProject.ParseOptions, VisualBasicParseOptions)
 
                 Assert.Equal(DocumentationMode.Parse, options.DocumentationMode)
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -86,6 +92,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 options = DirectCast(workspaceProject.CompilationOptions, VisualBasicCompilationOptions)
 
                 Assert.False(options.SpecificDiagnosticOptions.ContainsKey("BC1234"))
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
     End Class
diff --git a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicProjectTests.vb b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicProjectTests.vb
index bf4c556e2b8df..aac04f88c3318 100644
--- a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicProjectTests.vb
+++ b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicProjectTests.vb
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ Imports Roslyn.Test.Utilities
 Imports Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim.Framework
 Imports Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim.VisualBasicHelpers
 Imports Microsoft.CodeAnalysis
-Imports System.Threading.Tasks
 
 Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
     Public Class VisualBasicProjectTests
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
 
         <WpfFact()>
         <Trait(Traits.Feature, Traits.Features.ProjectSystemShims)>
-        Public Async Function DisconnectingAProjectDoesNotLeak() As Task
+        Public Sub DisconnectingAProjectDoesNotLeak()
             Using environment = New TestEnvironment()
                 Dim project = ObjectReference.CreateFromFactory(Function() CreateVisualBasicProject(environment, "Test"))
 
@@ -36,8 +35,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
 
                 project.UseReference(Sub(p) p.Disconnect())
 
-                Await project.AssertReleasedAsync().ConfigureAwait(False)
+                project.AssertReleased()
             End Using
-        End Function
+        End Sub
     End Class
 End Namespace
diff --git a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicSpecialReferencesTests.vb b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicSpecialReferencesTests.vb
index 90e347e66ebf2..d21b2e7056241 100644
--- a/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicSpecialReferencesTests.vb
+++ b/src/VisualStudio/Core/Test/ProjectSystemShim/VisualBasicSpecialReferencesTests.vb
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll")))
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("mscorlib.dll")))
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("System.dll")))
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -38,6 +40,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll")))
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("mscorlib.dll")))
                 Assert.False(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("System.dll")))
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -56,6 +60,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 Assert.False(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll")))
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("mscorlib.dll")))
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("System.dll")))
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -85,6 +91,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 ' It should still reference the VB runtime
                 workspaceProject = environment.Workspace.CurrentSolution.Projects.Single()
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll")))
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -100,6 +108,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 ' We should have no references
                 Dim workspaceProject = environment.Workspace.CurrentSolution.Projects.Single()
                 Assert.Empty(workspaceProject.MetadataReferences)
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -127,6 +137,8 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 ' It still should be referencing it since we're implicitly adding it as a part of the options
                 workspaceProject = environment.Workspace.CurrentSolution.Projects.Single()
                 Assert.True(workspaceProject.HasMetadataReference(MockCompilerHost.FullFrameworkCompilerHost.GetWellKnownDllName("Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll")))
+
+                project.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -145,6 +157,9 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 project2.AddMetaDataReference("c:\project1.dll", True)
 
                 Assert.Equal(True, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project1.Id))
+
+                project2.Disconnect()
+                project1.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -166,6 +181,9 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
 
                 Assert.Equal(True, project1.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project2.Id))
                 Assert.Equal(False, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project1.Id))
+
+                project2.Disconnect()
+                project1.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -182,6 +200,9 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
 
                 Assert.Equal(True, project1.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project2.Id))
                 Assert.Equal(False, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project1.Id))
+
+                project2.Disconnect()
+                project1.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub
 
@@ -204,6 +225,11 @@ Namespace Microsoft.VisualStudio.LanguageServices.UnitTests.ProjectSystemShim
                 Assert.Equal(True, project2.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project3.Id))
                 Assert.Equal(True, project3.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project4.Id))
                 Assert.Equal(False, project4.GetCurrentProjectReferences().Any(Function(pr) pr.ProjectId = project1.Id))
+
+                project4.Disconnect()
+                project3.Disconnect()
+                project2.Disconnect()
+                project1.Disconnect()
             End Using
         End Sub