diff --git a/configureWorkspace/configure_dotnetcore.ts b/configureWorkspace/configure_dotnetcore.ts
index 9f0fa557eb..dde9c12153 100644
--- a/configureWorkspace/configure_dotnetcore.ts
+++ b/configureWorkspace/configure_dotnetcore.ts
@@ -226,8 +226,10 @@ function genDockerFile(serviceNameAndRelativePath: string, platform: Platform, o
         .replace(/\$assembly_name\$/g, assemblyNameNoExtension)
         .replace(/\$copy_project_commands\$/g, copyProjectCommands);
 
-    // Remove multiple empty lines, as might be produced if there's no EXPOSE statement
-    contents = contents.replace(new RegExp(`${nodeOs.EOL}\{3\}`, 'g'), `${nodeOs.EOL}${nodeOs.EOL}`);
+    // Remove multiple empty lines with single empty lines, as might be produced
+    // if $expose_statements$ or another template variable is an empty string
+    contents = contents.replace(/(\r\n){3}/g, "\r\n\r\n")
+        .replace(/(\n){3}/g, "\n\n");
 
     let unreplacedToken = extractRegExGroups(contents, /(\$[a-z_]+\$)/, ['']);
     if (unreplacedToken[0]) {
diff --git a/test/configure.test.ts b/test/configure.test.ts
index 3f9ab977a3..7ba9d28033 100644
--- a/test/configure.test.ts
+++ b/test/configure.test.ts
@@ -1070,7 +1070,7 @@ suite("Configure (Add Docker files to Workspace)", function (this: Suite): void
     // Ruby
 
     suite("Ruby", () => {
-        testInEmptyFolder("Ruby", async () => {
+        testInEmptyFolder("Ruby, empty folder", async () => {
             await testConfigureDocker(
                 'Ruby',
                 {