diff --git a/packages/bazel/src/ng_module/ng_module.bzl b/packages/bazel/src/ng_module/ng_module.bzl
index 6e1d28c959e28e..6d88d18b7ec270 100644
--- a/packages/bazel/src/ng_module/ng_module.bzl
+++ b/packages/bazel/src/ng_module/ng_module.bzl
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 """Run Angular's AOT template compiler
 """
 
-load("//packages/bazel/src/ng_module:partial_compilation.bzl", "NgPartialCompilationInfo")
 load(
     "//packages/bazel/src:external.bzl",
     "COMMON_ATTRIBUTES",
@@ -23,6 +22,7 @@ load(
     "ts_providers_dict_to_struct",
     "tsc_wrapped_tsconfig",
 )
+load("//packages/bazel/src/ng_module:partial_compilation.bzl", "NgPartialCompilationInfo")
 
 # enable_perf_logging controls whether Ivy's performance tracing system will be enabled for any
 # compilation which includes this provider.
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ def _ngc_tsconfig(ctx, files, srcs, **kwargs):
         # for aliased exports. We disable relative paths and always use manifest paths in google3.
         "_useHostForImportGeneration": (not _is_bazel()),
         "_useManifestPathsAsModuleName": (not _is_bazel()),
+        "_isAngularCoreCompilation": ctx.attr.is_angular_core_compilation,
     }
 
     if is_perf_requested(ctx):
@@ -474,6 +475,10 @@ NG_MODULE_ATTRIBUTES = {
         executable = True,
         cfg = "exec",
     ),
+    "is_angular_core_compilation": attr.bool(
+        default = False,
+        doc = "Whether this is a compilation of Angular core.",
+    ),
     "_partial_compilation_flag": attr.label(
         default = "//packages/bazel/src:partial_compilation",
         providers = [NgPartialCompilationInfo],
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/private/migrations.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/private/migrations.ts
index 689d07ca952d8b..28acb9798f5af0 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/private/migrations.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/private/migrations.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  * package requires for migration schematics.
  */
 
-export {forwardRefResolver} from '../src/ngtsc/annotations';
+export {createForwardRefResolver} from '../src/ngtsc/annotations';
 export {AbsoluteFsPath} from '../src/ngtsc/file_system';
 export {Reference} from '../src/ngtsc/imports';
 export {
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/evaluation.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/evaluation.ts
index b5fdc2ca041c34..4f302a5bd0f1a7 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/evaluation.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/evaluation.ts
@@ -22,12 +22,16 @@ export function resolveEnumValue(
   metadata: Map<string, ts.Expression>,
   field: string,
   enumSymbolName: string,
+  isCore: boolean,
 ): number | null {
   let resolved: number | null = null;
   if (metadata.has(field)) {
     const expr = metadata.get(field)!;
     const value = evaluator.evaluate(expr) as any;
-    if (value instanceof EnumValue && isAngularCoreReference(value.enumRef, enumSymbolName)) {
+    if (
+      value instanceof EnumValue &&
+      isAngularCoreReference(value.enumRef, enumSymbolName, isCore)
+    ) {
       resolved = value.resolved as number;
     } else {
       throw createValueHasWrongTypeError(
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/util.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/util.ts
index 533fad06ac1374..e08c8d0c14359a 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/util.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/common/src/util.ts
@@ -107,8 +107,14 @@ export function isAngularCore(decorator: Decorator): decorator is Decorator & {i
   return decorator.import !== null && decorator.import.from === CORE_MODULE;
 }
 
-export function isAngularCoreReference(reference: Reference, symbolName: string): boolean {
-  return reference.ownedByModuleGuess === CORE_MODULE && reference.debugName === symbolName;
+export function isAngularCoreReference(
+  reference: Reference,
+  symbolName: string,
+  isCore: boolean,
+): boolean {
+  return (
+    (reference.ownedByModuleGuess === CORE_MODULE || isCore) && reference.debugName === symbolName
+  );
 }
 
 export function findAngularDecorator(
@@ -225,22 +231,19 @@ export function tryUnwrapForwardRef(
  * @param args the arguments to the invocation of the forwardRef expression
  * @returns an unwrapped argument if `ref` pointed to forwardRef, or null otherwise
  */
-export const forwardRefResolver: ForeignFunctionResolver = (
-  fn,
-  callExpr,
-  resolve,
-  unresolvable,
-) => {
-  if (!isAngularCoreReference(fn, 'forwardRef') || callExpr.arguments.length !== 1) {
-    return unresolvable;
-  }
-  const expanded = expandForwardRef(callExpr.arguments[0]);
-  if (expanded !== null) {
-    return resolve(expanded);
-  } else {
-    return unresolvable;
-  }
-};
+export function createForwardRefResolver(isCore: boolean): ForeignFunctionResolver {
+  return (fn, callExpr, resolve, unresolvable) => {
+    if (!isAngularCoreReference(fn, 'forwardRef', isCore) || callExpr.arguments.length !== 1) {
+      return unresolvable;
+    }
+    const expanded = expandForwardRef(callExpr.arguments[0]);
+    if (expanded !== null) {
+      return resolve(expanded);
+    } else {
+      return unresolvable;
+    }
+  };
+}
 
 /**
  * Combines an array of resolver functions into a one.
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/component/src/handler.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/component/src/handler.ts
index caa23d7b79189c..b379c593f1f80f 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/component/src/handler.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/component/src/handler.ts
@@ -132,11 +132,11 @@ import {
   compileInputTransformFields,
   compileNgFactoryDefField,
   compileResults,
+  createForwardRefResolver,
   extractClassDebugInfo,
   extractClassMetadata,
   extractSchemas,
   findAngularDecorator,
-  forwardRefResolver,
   getDirectiveDiagnostics,
   getProviderDiagnostics,
   InjectableClassRegistry,
@@ -492,7 +492,13 @@ export class ComponentDecoratorHandler
     } = directiveResult;
     const encapsulation: number =
       (this.compilationMode !== CompilationMode.LOCAL
-        ? resolveEnumValue(this.evaluator, component, 'encapsulation', 'ViewEncapsulation')
+        ? resolveEnumValue(
+            this.evaluator,
+            component,
+            'encapsulation',
+            'ViewEncapsulation',
+            this.isCore,
+          )
         : resolveEncapsulationEnumValueLocally(component.get('encapsulation'))) ??
       ViewEncapsulation.Emulated;
 
@@ -503,6 +509,7 @@ export class ComponentDecoratorHandler
         component,
         'changeDetection',
         'ChangeDetectionStrategy',
+        this.isCore,
       );
     } else if (component.has('changeDetection')) {
       changeDetection = new o.WrappedNodeExpr(component.get('changeDetection')!);
@@ -597,7 +604,7 @@ export class ComponentDecoratorHandler
     ) {
       const importResolvers = combineResolvers([
         createModuleWithProvidersResolver(this.reflector, this.isCore),
-        forwardRefResolver,
+        createForwardRefResolver(this.isCore),
       ]);
 
       const importDiagnostics: ts.Diagnostic[] = [];
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/directive/src/shared.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/directive/src/shared.ts
index 93d26886f74eab..a8990d99b62e3e 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/directive/src/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/directive/src/shared.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import {
 import {
   DynamicValue,
   EnumValue,
+  ForeignFunctionResolver,
   PartialEvaluator,
   ResolvedValue,
   traceDynamicValue,
@@ -65,9 +66,9 @@ import {
 import {CompilationMode} from '../../../transform';
 import {
   assertLocalCompilationUnresolvedConst,
+  createForwardRefResolver,
   createSourceSpan,
   createValueHasWrongTypeError,
-  forwardRefResolver,
   getAngularDecorators,
   getConstructorDependencies,
   isAngularDecorator,
@@ -373,7 +374,12 @@ export function extractDirectiveMetadata(
   const hostDirectives =
     rawHostDirectives === null
       ? null
-      : extractHostDirectives(rawHostDirectives, evaluator, compilationMode);
+      : extractHostDirectives(
+          rawHostDirectives,
+          evaluator,
+          compilationMode,
+          createForwardRefResolver(isCore),
+        );
 
   if (compilationMode !== CompilationMode.LOCAL && hostDirectives !== null) {
     // In global compilation mode where we do type checking, the template type-checker will need to
@@ -1672,6 +1678,7 @@ function extractHostDirectives(
   rawHostDirectives: ts.Expression,
   evaluator: PartialEvaluator,
   compilationMode: CompilationMode,
+  forwardRefResolver: ForeignFunctionResolver,
 ): HostDirectiveMeta[] {
   const resolved = evaluator.evaluate(rawHostDirectives, forwardRefResolver);
   if (!Array.isArray(resolved)) {
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/index.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/index.ts
index 742ff6dcd57d4e..f1ed6df6a09a76 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/index.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/index.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 /// <reference types="node" />
 
 export {
-  forwardRefResolver,
+  createForwardRefResolver,
   findAngularDecorator,
   getAngularDecorators,
   isAngularDecorator,
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/ng_module/src/handler.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/ng_module/src/handler.ts
index 1cfb85862b9241..9c70fcd11bc0b0 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/ng_module/src/handler.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/annotations/ng_module/src/handler.ts
@@ -91,11 +91,11 @@ import {
   combineResolvers,
   compileDeclareFactory,
   compileNgFactoryDefField,
+  createForwardRefResolver,
   createValueHasWrongTypeError,
   extractClassMetadata,
   extractSchemas,
   findAngularDecorator,
-  forwardRefResolver,
   getProviderDiagnostics,
   getValidConstructorDependencies,
   InjectableClassRegistry,
@@ -348,6 +348,7 @@ export class NgModuleDecoratorHandler
       return {};
     }
 
+    const forwardRefResolver = createForwardRefResolver(this.isCore);
     const moduleResolvers = combineResolvers([
       createModuleWithProvidersResolver(this.reflector, this.isCore),
       forwardRefResolver,
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/api/src/options.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/api/src/options.ts
index 99ea91f02bceb4..6740d2210da6e0 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/api/src/options.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/api/src/options.ts
@@ -126,6 +126,15 @@ export interface InternalOptions {
    * Whether to check the event side of two-way bindings.
    */
   _checkTwoWayBoundEvents?: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * Whether this is a compilation of Angular core itself.
+   *
+   * By default, we detect this automatically based on the existence of `r3_symbols.ts`
+   * in the compilation, but there are other test targets within the `core` package that
+   * import e.g. `Component` relatively and should be detected by the compiler.
+   */
+  _isAngularCoreCompilation?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/src/compiler.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/src/compiler.ts
index 7ecdbbe2768f12..acdc2f523c2e58 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/src/compiler.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core/src/compiler.ts
@@ -1257,7 +1257,8 @@ export class NgCompiler {
   }
 
   private makeCompilation(): LazyCompilationState {
-    const isCore = isAngularCorePackage(this.inputProgram);
+    const isCore =
+      this.options._isAngularCoreCompilation ?? isAngularCorePackage(this.inputProgram);
 
     // Note: If this compilation builds `@angular/core`, we always build in full compilation
     // mode. Code inside the core package is always compatible with itself, so it does not
diff --git a/tools/defaults.bzl b/tools/defaults.bzl
index 035dfab56ba47d..1c510a0e826c79 100644
--- a/tools/defaults.bzl
+++ b/tools/defaults.bzl
@@ -1,26 +1,26 @@
 """Re-export of some bazel rules with repository-wide defaults."""
 
-load("@rules_pkg//:pkg.bzl", "pkg_tar")
 load("@build_bazel_rules_nodejs//:index.bzl", "generated_file_test", _npm_package_bin = "npm_package_bin", _pkg_npm = "pkg_npm")
-load("@npm//@bazel/jasmine:index.bzl", _jasmine_node_test = "jasmine_node_test")
-load("@npm//@bazel/concatjs:index.bzl", _ts_config = "ts_config", _ts_library = "ts_library")
-load("@npm//@bazel/rollup:index.bzl", _rollup_bundle = "rollup_bundle")
-load("@npm//@bazel/terser:index.bzl", "terser_minified")
-load("@npm//@bazel/protractor:index.bzl", _protractor_web_test_suite = "protractor_web_test_suite")
-load("@npm//typescript:index.bzl", "tsc")
-load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/app-bundling:index.bzl", _app_bundle = "app_bundle")
-load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/http-server:index.bzl", _http_server = "http_server")
-load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/karma:index.bzl", _karma_web_test = "karma_web_test", _karma_web_test_suite = "karma_web_test_suite")
-load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/api-golden:index.bzl", _api_golden_test = "api_golden_test", _api_golden_test_npm_package = "api_golden_test_npm_package")
 load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel:extract_js_module_output.bzl", "extract_js_module_output")
 load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel:extract_types.bzl", _extract_types = "extract_types")
+load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/api-golden:index.bzl", _api_golden_test = "api_golden_test", _api_golden_test_npm_package = "api_golden_test_npm_package")
+load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/app-bundling:index.bzl", _app_bundle = "app_bundle")
 load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/esbuild:index.bzl", _esbuild = "esbuild", _esbuild_config = "esbuild_config", _esbuild_esm_bundle = "esbuild_esm_bundle")
-load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/spec-bundling:spec-entrypoint.bzl", "spec_entrypoint")
+load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/http-server:index.bzl", _http_server = "http_server")
+load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/karma:index.bzl", _karma_web_test = "karma_web_test", _karma_web_test_suite = "karma_web_test_suite")
 load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/spec-bundling:index.bzl", "spec_bundle")
+load("@npm//@angular/build-tooling/bazel/spec-bundling:spec-entrypoint.bzl", "spec_entrypoint")
+load("@npm//@bazel/concatjs:index.bzl", _ts_config = "ts_config", _ts_library = "ts_library")
+load("@npm//@bazel/jasmine:index.bzl", _jasmine_node_test = "jasmine_node_test")
+load("@npm//@bazel/protractor:index.bzl", _protractor_web_test_suite = "protractor_web_test_suite")
+load("@npm//@bazel/rollup:index.bzl", _rollup_bundle = "rollup_bundle")
+load("@npm//@bazel/terser:index.bzl", "terser_minified")
 load("@npm//tsec:index.bzl", _tsec_test = "tsec_test")
+load("@npm//typescript:index.bzl", "tsc")
+load("@rules_pkg//:pkg.bzl", "pkg_tar")
+load("//adev/shared-docs/pipeline/api-gen:generate_api_docs.bzl", _generate_api_docs = "generate_api_docs")
 load("//packages/bazel:index.bzl", _ng_module = "ng_module", _ng_package = "ng_package")
 load("//tools/esm-interop:index.bzl", "enable_esm_node_module_loader", _nodejs_binary = "nodejs_binary", _nodejs_test = "nodejs_test")
-load("//adev/shared-docs/pipeline/api-gen:generate_api_docs.bzl", _generate_api_docs = "generate_api_docs")
 
 _DEFAULT_TSCONFIG_TEST = "//packages:tsconfig-test"
 _INTERNAL_NG_MODULE_COMPILER = "//packages/bazel/src/ngc-wrapped"
@@ -170,6 +170,11 @@ def ng_module(name, tsconfig = None, entry_point = None, testonly = False, deps
 
     if not entry_point:
         entry_point = "public_api.ts"
+
+    is_angular_core_compilation = False
+    if native.package_name().startswith("packages/core"):
+        is_angular_core_compilation = True
+
     _ng_module(
         name = name,
         flat_module_out_file = name,
@@ -184,6 +189,7 @@ def ng_module(name, tsconfig = None, entry_point = None, testonly = False, deps
         # `package_name` can be set to allow for the Bazel NodeJS linker to run. This
         # allows for resolution of the given target within the `node_modules/`.
         package_name = package_name,
+        is_angular_core_compilation = is_angular_core_compilation,
         perf_flag = "//packages/compiler-cli:ng_perf",
         **kwargs
     )