diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/CreateZipFile.vbproj b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/CreateZipFile.vbproj
index c20cdae13..2057acd9f 100644
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/CreateZipFile.vbproj
+++ b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/CreateZipFile.vbproj
@@ -66,9 +66,6 @@
     <Prefer32Bit>false</Prefer32Bit>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Reference Include="ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, Version=1.3.0.8, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b03e6acf1164f73, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <HintPath>..\..\packages\SharpZipLib.1.3.0\lib\net45\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" />
     <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
@@ -95,9 +92,12 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="app.config" />
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
-  <ItemGroup />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="SharpZipLib">
+      <Version>1.3.1</Version>
+    </PackageReference>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.5.SP1">
       <Visible>False</Visible>
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/packages.config b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index a938c1f99..000000000
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/CreateZipFile/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="SharpZipLib" version="1.3.0" targetFramework="net461" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/WpfCreateZipFile.vbproj b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/WpfCreateZipFile.vbproj
index 5d882b23d..e6ccebddc 100644
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/WpfCreateZipFile.vbproj
+++ b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/WpfCreateZipFile.vbproj
@@ -73,9 +73,6 @@
     <ApplicationManifest>My Project\app.manifest</ApplicationManifest>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Reference Include="ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, Version=1.3.0.8, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b03e6acf1164f73, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <HintPath>..\..\packages\SharpZipLib.1.3.0\lib\net45\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" />
     <Reference Include="System.Core" />
     <Reference Include="System.Data.DataSetExtensions" />
@@ -91,10 +88,6 @@
     <Reference Include="WindowsBase" />
     <Reference Include="PresentationCore" />
     <Reference Include="PresentationFramework" />
-    <Reference Include="WPFFolderBrowser, Version=1.0.2.0, Culture=neutral, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <HintPath>..\..\packages\WPFFolderBrowser.1.0.2\lib\WPFFolderBrowser.dll</HintPath>
-      <Private>True</Private>
-    </Reference>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <ApplicationDefinition Include="Application.xaml">
@@ -165,7 +158,6 @@
       <LastGenOutput>Settings.Designer.vb</LastGenOutput>
     </None>
     <AppDesigner Include="My Project\" />
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="App.config" />
@@ -177,5 +169,13 @@
       <Install>false</Install>
     </BootstrapperPackage>
   </ItemGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="SharpZipLib">
+      <Version>1.3.1</Version>
+    </PackageReference>
+    <PackageReference Include="WPFFolderBrowser">
+      <Version>1.0.2</Version>
+    </PackageReference>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.VisualBasic.targets" />
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/packages.config b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index 1380bfc2b..000000000
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/WpfCreateZipFile/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="SharpZipLib" version="1.3.0" targetFramework="net461" />
-  <package id="WPFFolderBrowser" version="1.0.2" targetFramework="net461" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/minibzip2.vbproj b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/minibzip2.vbproj
index 9c2dfd7e2..618adb8ad 100644
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/minibzip2.vbproj
+++ b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/minibzip2.vbproj
@@ -74,9 +74,6 @@
     <ApplicationManifest>My Project\app.manifest</ApplicationManifest>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Reference Include="ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, Version=1.3.0.8, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b03e6acf1164f73, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <HintPath>..\..\packages\SharpZipLib.1.3.0\lib\net45\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" />
     <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
@@ -113,7 +110,11 @@
       <LastGenOutput>Resources.Designer.vb</LastGenOutput>
     </EmbeddedResource>
   </ItemGroup>
-  <ItemGroup />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="SharpZipLib">
+      <Version>1.3.1</Version>
+    </PackageReference>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.5.SP1">
       <Visible>False</Visible>
@@ -124,7 +125,6 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="app.config" />
     <None Include="My Project\app.manifest" />
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="My Project\Application.myapp">
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/packages.config b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index a938c1f99..000000000
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/minibzip2/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="SharpZipLib" version="1.3.0" targetFramework="net461" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/packages.config b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index a938c1f99..000000000
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="SharpZipLib" version="1.3.0" targetFramework="net461" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/viewzipfile.vbproj b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/viewzipfile.vbproj
index a7e5259e5..429d77bfc 100644
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/viewzipfile.vbproj
+++ b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/viewzipfile/viewzipfile.vbproj
@@ -66,9 +66,6 @@
     <Prefer32Bit>false</Prefer32Bit>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Reference Include="ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, Version=1.3.0.8, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b03e6acf1164f73, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <HintPath>..\..\packages\SharpZipLib.1.3.0\lib\net45\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" />
     <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
@@ -91,7 +88,11 @@
       <SubType>Designer</SubType>
     </EmbeddedResource>
   </ItemGroup>
-  <ItemGroup />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="SharpZipLib">
+      <Version>1.3.1</Version>
+    </PackageReference>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.5.SP1">
       <Visible>False</Visible>
@@ -101,7 +102,6 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="app.config" />
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.VisualBasic.Targets" />
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/packages.config b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/packages.config
deleted file mode 100644
index a938c1f99..000000000
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/packages.config
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<packages>
-  <package id="SharpZipLib" version="1.3.0" targetFramework="net461" />
-</packages>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/zipfiletest.vbproj b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/zipfiletest.vbproj
index 4a53b5a64..ddde8318d 100644
--- a/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/zipfiletest.vbproj
+++ b/samples/ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Samples/vb/zipfiletest/zipfiletest.vbproj
@@ -76,9 +76,6 @@
     <NoWarn>42353,42354,42355</NoWarn>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Reference Include="ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, Version=1.3.0.8, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b03e6acf1164f73, processorArchitecture=MSIL">
-      <HintPath>..\..\packages\SharpZipLib.1.3.0\lib\net45\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll</HintPath>
-    </Reference>
     <Reference Include="System" />
     <Reference Include="System.ComponentModel.Composition" />
     <Reference Include="System.Drawing" />
@@ -101,7 +98,11 @@
       <SubType>Designer</SubType>
     </EmbeddedResource>
   </ItemGroup>
-  <ItemGroup />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="SharpZipLib">
+      <Version>1.3.1</Version>
+    </PackageReference>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <BootstrapperPackage Include="Microsoft.Net.Framework.3.5.SP1">
       <Visible>False</Visible>
@@ -111,7 +112,6 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="app.config" />
-    <None Include="packages.config" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.VisualBasic.Targets" />
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file