diff --git a/src/fsharp/CompileOps.fs b/src/fsharp/CompileOps.fs
index 955ba969456..2813be46db4 100644
--- a/src/fsharp/CompileOps.fs
+++ b/src/fsharp/CompileOps.fs
@@ -1849,7 +1849,7 @@ type AssemblyReference =
     member x.Text = (let (AssemblyReference(_,text,_)) = x in text)
     member x.ProjectReference = (let (AssemblyReference(_,_,contents)) = x in contents)
     member x.SimpleAssemblyNameIs(name) = 
-        (String.Compare(fileNameWithoutExtension x.Text, name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) = 0) ||
+        (String.Compare(fileNameWithoutExtensionWithValidate false x.Text, name, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) = 0) ||
         (let text = x.Text.ToLowerInvariant()
          not (text.Contains "/") && not (text.Contains "\\") && not (text.Contains ".dll") && not (text.Contains ".exe") &&
            try let aname = System.Reflection.AssemblyName(x.Text) in aname.Name = name 
diff --git a/src/utils/filename.fs b/src/utils/filename.fs
index e80a4564998..f622b144e3a 100644
--- a/src/utils/filename.fs
+++ b/src/utils/filename.fs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ let checkPathForIllegalChars (path:string) =
 let checkSuffix (x:string) (y:string) = x.EndsWith(y,System.StringComparison.Ordinal) 
 
 let hasExtensionWithValidate (validate:bool) (s:string) = 
-    if validate then  (checkPathForIllegalChars s) |> ignore
+    if validate then (checkPathForIllegalChars s) |> ignore
     let sLen = s.Length
     (sLen >= 1 && s.[sLen - 1] = '.' && s <> ".." && s <> ".") 
     || Path.HasExtension(s)
@@ -56,9 +56,11 @@ let fileNameOfPath s =
     checkPathForIllegalChars s
     Path.GetFileName(s)
 
-let fileNameWithoutExtension s = 
-    checkPathForIllegalChars s
+let fileNameWithoutExtensionWithValidate (validate:bool) s = 
+    if validate then checkPathForIllegalChars s |> ignore
     Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(s)
 
+let fileNameWithoutExtension s = fileNameWithoutExtensionWithValidate true s
+
 let trimQuotes (s:string) =
     s.Trim( [|' '; '\"'|] )
diff --git a/src/utils/filename.fsi b/src/utils/filename.fsi
index 361f8943ca8..ccba5bd4de3 100644
--- a/src/utils/filename.fsi
+++ b/src/utils/filename.fsi
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ val hasExtension: string -> bool
 val fileNameOfPath: string -> string
 
 /// Get the filename without extension of the given path.
+val fileNameWithoutExtensionWithValidate: bool -> string -> string
 val fileNameWithoutExtension: string -> string
 
 /// Trim the quotes and spaces from either end of a string