diff --git a/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Extraction.CSharp.DependencyFetching/Assets.cs b/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Extraction.CSharp.DependencyFetching/Assets.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8a5c533f676
--- /dev/null
+++ b/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Extraction.CSharp.DependencyFetching/Assets.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
+
+namespace Semmle.Extraction.CSharp.DependencyFetching
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Class for parsing project.assets.json files.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal class Assets
+    {
+        private readonly ProgressMonitor progressMonitor;
+
+        private static readonly string[] netFrameworks = new[] {
+            "microsoft.aspnetcore.app.ref",
+            "microsoft.netcore.app.ref",
+            "microsoft.netframework.referenceassemblies",
+            "microsoft.windowsdesktop.app.ref",
+            "netstandard.library.ref"
+        };
+
+
+        internal Assets(ProgressMonitor progressMonitor)
+        {
+            this.progressMonitor = progressMonitor;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// In most cases paths in asset files point to dll's or the empty _._ file, which
+        /// is sometimes there to avoid the directory being empty.
+        /// That is, if the path specifically adds a .dll we use that, otherwise we as a fallback
+        /// add the entire directory (which should be fine in case of _._ as well).
+        /// </summary>
+        private static string ParseFilePath(string path)
+        {
+            if (path.EndsWith(".dll"))
+            {
+                return path;
+            }
+            return Path.GetDirectoryName(path) ?? path;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Class needed for deserializing parts of an assets file.
+        /// It holds information about a reference.
+        /// </summary>
+        private class ReferenceInfo
+        {
+            /// <summary>
+            /// This carries the type of the reference.
+            /// We are only interested in package references.
+            /// </summary>
+            public string Type { get; set; } = "";
+
+            /// <summary>
+            /// If not a .NET framework reference we assume that only the files mentioned
+            /// in the compile section are needed for compilation.
+            /// </summary>
+            public Dictionary<string, object> Compile { get; set; } = new();
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the package dependencies from the assets file.
+        /// 
+        /// Parse a part of the JSon assets file and returns the paths
+        /// to the dependencies required for compilation.
+        ///
+        /// Example:
+        /// {
+        ///   "Castle.Core/4.4.1": {
+        ///     "type": "package",
+        ///     "compile": {
+        ///       "lib/netstandard1.5/Castle.Core.dll": {
+        ///         "related": ".xml"
+        ///        }
+        ///     }
+        ///   },
+        ///   "Json.Net/1.0.33": {
+        ///     "type": "package",
+        ///     "compile": {
+        ///       "lib/netstandard2.0/Json.Net.dll": {}
+        ///     },
+        ///     "runtime": {
+        ///       "lib/netstandard2.0/Json.Net.dll": {}
+        ///     }
+        ///   }
+        /// }
+        /// 
+        /// Returns {
+        ///   "castle.core/4.4.1/lib/netstandard1.5/Castle.Core.dll",
+        ///   "json.net/1.0.33/lib/netstandard2.0/Json.Net.dll"
+        /// }
+        /// </summary>
+        private IEnumerable<string> GetPackageDependencies(JObject json)
+        {
+            // If there are more than one framework we need to pick just one.
+            // To ensure stability we pick one based on the lexicographic order of
+            // the framework names.
+            var references = json
+                .GetProperty("targets")?
+                .Properties()?
+                .MaxBy(p => p.Name)?
+                .Value
+                .ToObject<Dictionary<string, ReferenceInfo>>();
+
+            if (references is null)
+            {
+                progressMonitor.LogDebug("No references found in the targets section in the assets file.");
+                return Array.Empty<string>();
+            }
+
+            // Find all the compile dependencies for each reference and
+            // create the relative path to the dependency.
+            var dependencies = references
+                .SelectMany(r =>
+                {
+                    var info = r.Value;
+                    var name = r.Key.ToLowerInvariant();
+                    if (info.Type != "package")
+                    {
+                        return Array.Empty<string>();
+                    }
+
+                    // If this is a .NET framework reference then include everything.
+                    return netFrameworks.Any(framework => name.StartsWith(framework))
+                        ? new[] { name }
+                        : info
+                            .Compile
+                            .Select(p => Path.Combine(name, ParseFilePath(p.Key)));
+                })
+                .ToList();
+
+            return dependencies;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Parse `json` as project.assets.json content and populate `dependencies` with the
+        /// relative paths to the dependencies required for compilation.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>True if parsing succeeds, otherwise false.</returns>
+        public bool TryParse(string json, out IEnumerable<string> dependencies)
+        {
+            dependencies = Array.Empty<string>();
+
+            try
+            {
+                var obj = JObject.Parse(json);
+                var packages = GetPackageDependencies(obj);
+
+                dependencies = packages.ToList();
+
+                return true;
+            }
+            catch (Exception e)
+            {
+                progressMonitor.LogDebug($"Failed to parse assets file (unexpected error): {e.Message}");
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    internal static class JsonExtensions
+    {
+        internal static JObject? GetProperty(this JObject json, string property) =>
+            json[property] as JObject;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Util/IEnumerableExtensions.cs b/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Util/IEnumerableExtensions.cs
index 4e40288d88c..1ca676f0ce6 100644
--- a/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Util/IEnumerableExtensions.cs
+++ b/csharp/extractor/Semmle.Util/IEnumerableExtensions.cs
@@ -113,5 +113,11 @@ namespace Semmle.Util
                 h = h * 7 + i.GetHashCode();
             return h;
         }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns the sequence with nulls removed.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static IEnumerable<T> WhereNotNull<T>(this IEnumerable<T?> items) where T : class =>
+            items.Where(i => i is not null)!;
     }
 }