diff --git a/packages/nx/src/config/workspaces.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/config/workspaces.spec.ts
index 99d55af978040..b85882b2eba6c 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/config/workspaces.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/config/workspaces.spec.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ describe('Workspaces', () => {
         projectType: 'library',
         targets: {
           'nx-release-publish': {
+            configurations: {},
             dependsOn: ['^nx-release-publish'],
             executor: '@nx/js:release-publish',
             options: {},
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.spec.ts
index 86d4c3f8d0157..007572e279c2c 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.spec.ts
@@ -78,28 +78,4 @@ describe('workspace-projects', () => {
       ).toEqual(['b', 'b-1', 'b-2']);
     });
   });
-
-  describe('normalizeTargets', () => {
-    it('should support {projectRoot}, {workspaceRoot}, and {projectName} tokens', () => {
-      expect(
-        normalizeProjectTargets(
-          {
-            name: 'project',
-            root: 'my/project',
-            targets: {
-              build: {
-                executor: 'target',
-                options: {
-                  a: '{projectRoot}',
-                  b: '{workspaceRoot}',
-                  c: '{projectName}',
-                },
-              },
-            },
-          },
-          'build'
-        ).build.options
-      ).toEqual({ a: 'my/project', b: '', c: 'project' });
-    });
-  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.ts
index f01ff9768dcbb..92143b55913fa 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/normalize-project-nodes.ts
@@ -99,21 +99,6 @@ export function normalizeProjectTargets(
       delete targets[target];
       continue;
     }
-
-    targets[target].options = resolveNxTokensInOptions(
-      targets[target].options,
-      project,
-      `${projectName}:${target}`
-    );
-
-    targets[target].configurations ??= {};
-    for (const configuration in targets[target].configurations) {
-      targets[target].configurations[configuration] = resolveNxTokensInOptions(
-        targets[target].configurations[configuration],
-        project,
-        `${projectName}:${target}:${configuration}`
-      );
-    }
   }
   return targets;
 }
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts
index b54ed81af526a..06ddaa8a95e38 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   isCompatibleTarget,
   mergeProjectConfigurationIntoRootMap,
   mergeTargetConfigurations,
+  normalizeTarget,
   readProjectConfigurationsFromRootMap,
   readTargetDefaultsForTarget,
 } from './project-configuration-utils';
@@ -572,6 +573,7 @@ describe('project-configuration-utils', () => {
           "root": "libs/lib-a",
           "targets": {
             "build": {
+              "configurations": {},
               "executor": "nx:run-commands",
               "options": {
                 "command": "tsc",
@@ -725,8 +727,9 @@ describe('project-configuration-utils', () => {
       expect(targets.echo).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
         {
           "command": "echo lib-a",
+          "configurations": {},
           "options": {
-            "cwd": "{projectRoot}",
+            "cwd": "libs/lib-a",
           },
         }
       `);
@@ -1548,6 +1551,28 @@ describe('project-configuration-utils', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('normalizeTarget', () => {
+    it('should support {projectRoot}, {workspaceRoot}, and {projectName} tokens', () => {
+      const config = {
+        name: 'project',
+        root: 'libs/project',
+        targets: {
+          foo: { command: 'echo {projectRoot}' },
+        },
+      };
+      expect(normalizeTarget(config.targets.foo, config))
+        .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+        {
+          "configurations": {},
+          "executor": "nx:run-commands",
+          "options": {
+            "command": "echo libs/project",
+          },
+        }
+      `);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('createProjectConfigurations', () => {
     /* A fake plugin that sets `fake-lib` tag to libs. */
     const fakeTagPlugin: NxPluginV2 = {
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.ts
index 12029fc8fb077..d1fcff5cc4ed0 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export function mergeProjectConfigurationIntoRootMap(
   sourceInformation?: SourceInformation,
   // This function is used when reading project configuration
   // in generators, where we don't want to do this.
-  skipCommandNormalization?: boolean
+  skipTargetNormalization?: boolean
 ): void {
   if (configurationSourceMaps && !configurationSourceMaps[project.root]) {
     configurationSourceMaps[project.root] = {};
@@ -202,10 +202,12 @@ export function mergeProjectConfigurationIntoRootMap(
         continue;
       }
 
+      const normalizedTarget = skipTargetNormalization
+        ? target
+        : normalizeTarget(target, project);
+
       const mergedTarget = mergeTargetConfigurations(
-        skipCommandNormalization
-          ? target
-          : resolveCommandSyntacticSugar(target, project.root),
+        normalizedTarget,
         matchingProject.targets?.[targetName],
         sourceMap,
         sourceInformation,
@@ -670,8 +672,8 @@ export function isCompatibleTarget(
 
   const isRunCommands = a.executor === 'nx:run-commands';
   if (isRunCommands) {
-    const aCommand = a.options?.command ?? a.options?.commands.join(' && ');
-    const bCommand = b.options?.command ?? b.options?.commands.join(' && ');
+    const aCommand = a.options?.command ?? a.options?.commands?.join(' && ');
+    const bCommand = b.options?.command ?? b.options?.commands?.join(' && ');
 
     const oneHasNoCommand = !aCommand || !bCommand;
     const hasSameCommand = aCommand === bCommand;
@@ -836,3 +838,27 @@ function resolveCommandSyntacticSugar(
     };
   }
 }
+
+export function normalizeTarget(
+  target: TargetConfiguration,
+  project: ProjectConfiguration
+) {
+  target = resolveCommandSyntacticSugar(target, project.root);
+
+  target.options = resolveNxTokensInOptions(
+    target.options,
+    project,
+    `${project.root}:${target}`
+  );
+
+  target.configurations ??= {};
+  for (const configuration in target.configurations) {
+    target.configurations[configuration] = resolveNxTokensInOptions(
+      target.configurations[configuration],
+      project,
+      `${project.root}:${target}:${configuration}`
+    );
+  }
+
+  return target;
+}