diff --git a/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTestBase.cs b/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTestBase.cs
index 66637d5bbf..9252df450d 100644
--- a/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTestBase.cs
+++ b/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTestBase.cs
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@ protected static Task TestNoChangeforProject(
         TestFile[]? additionalFiles = null,
         MockNuGetPackage[]? packages = null,
         ExperimentsManager? experimentsManager = null,
-        string projectFilePath = "test-project.csproj")
+        string projectFilePath = "test-project.csproj",
+        ExpectedUpdateOperationResult? expectedResult = null)
         => TestUpdateForProject(
             dependencyName,
             oldVersion,
@@ -88,7 +89,8 @@ protected static Task TestNoChangeforProject(
             additionalFiles,
             additionalFilesExpected: additionalFiles,
             packages: packages,
-            experimentsManager: experimentsManager);
+            experimentsManager: experimentsManager,
+            expectedResult: expectedResult);
 
     protected static Task TestUpdateForProject(
         string dependencyName,
diff --git a/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTests.PackageReference.cs b/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTests.PackageReference.cs
index d28af3270a..ead8755bcf 100644
--- a/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTests.PackageReference.cs
+++ b/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core.Test/Update/UpdateWorkerTests.PackageReference.cs
@@ -3109,6 +3109,46 @@ await TestNoChangeforProject("Some.Package", "7.0.1", "13.0.1",
             );
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task NoChange_IfPeerDependenciesCannotBeEvaluated()
+        {
+            // make sure we don't throw if we find conflicting peer dependencies; this can happen in multi-tfm projects if the dependencies are too complicated to resolve
+            // eventually this should be able to be resolved, but currently we can't branch on the different packages for different TFMs
+            await TestNoChangeforProject("Some.Package", "1.0.0", "1.1.0",
+                packages:
+                [
+                    // initial packages
+                    new MockNuGetPackage("Some.Package", "1.0.0",
+                        DependencyGroups: [
+                            ("net8.0", [("Transitive.Dependency", "8.0.0")]),
+                            ("net9.0", [("Transitive.Dependency", "9.0.0")])
+                        ]),
+                    MockNuGetPackage.CreateSimplePackage("Transitive.Dependency", "8.0.0", "net8.0"),
+                    MockNuGetPackage.CreateSimplePackage("Transitive.Dependency", "9.0.0", "net9.0"),
+
+                    // what we're trying to update to, but will fail
+                    new MockNuGetPackage("Some.Package", "1.1.0",
+                        DependencyGroups: [
+                            ("net8.0", [("Transitive.Dependency", "8.1.0")]),
+                            ("net9.0", [("Transitive.Dependency", "9.1.0")])
+                        ]),
+                    MockNuGetPackage.CreateSimplePackage("Transitive.Dependency", "8.1.0", "net8.0"),
+                    MockNuGetPackage.CreateSimplePackage("Transitive.Dependency", "9.1.0", "net9.0"),
+                ],
+                projectContents: """
+                    <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
+                      <PropertyGroup>
+                        <TargetFrameworks>net8.0;net9.0</TargetFrameworks>
+                      </PropertyGroup>
+                      <ItemGroup>
+                        <PackageReference Include="Some.Package" Version="1.0.0" />
+                      </ItemGroup>
+                    </Project>
+                    """,
+                expectedResult: new() // success
+            );
+        }
+
         [Fact]
         public async Task ProcessingProjectWithWorkloadReferencesDoesNotFail()
         {
diff --git a/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core/Updater/PackageReferenceUpdater.cs b/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core/Updater/PackageReferenceUpdater.cs
index fc911fb132..1ebdc4aeba 100644
--- a/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core/Updater/PackageReferenceUpdater.cs
+++ b/nuget/helpers/lib/NuGetUpdater/NuGetUpdater.Core/Updater/PackageReferenceUpdater.cs
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ public static async Task UpdateDependencyAsync(
         }
         else
         {
+            if (peerDependencies is null)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
             await UpdateDependencyWithConflictResolution(repoRootPath, buildFiles, tfms, projectPath, dependencyName, previousDependencyVersion, newDependencyVersion, isTransitive, peerDependencies, logger);
         }