Could not load file or assembly 'WebGrease' one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference

Question

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I am trying to add System.Web.Optimization to my ASP.NET Web Forms solution. I added Microsoft ASP.NET Web Optimization Framework through NuGet Packages. It added Microsoft.Web.Infrastracture and WebGrease (1.5.2) to the references.

However, when I run

<%= System.Web.Optimization.Scripts.Render("~/bundles/js")%>

I get runtime error

Could not load file or assembly 'WebGrease, Version=1.5.1.25624, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' or one of its dependencies. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131040)

I have tried adding assemblyBinding to the Web.Config

<runtime>
  <legacyUnhandledExceptionPolicy enabled="1"/>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="WebGrease" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" culture="neutral"/>
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-1.5.1.25624" newVersion="1.5.2.14234"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
</runtime>

But without any luck.

I noticed that my WebSite's Web config contains this line

 <configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">

If I replace it with

 <configuration>

Then everything works and I don't get the runtime error. Unfortunately, I need the xmlns. Other components of my project depend on it.

Why would Optimization try to load an older version when schema is pointing to v2.0? Is there a way to force it to load the latest or the only available WebGrease.dll?

What else can I try without changing the

 <configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0"> ?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Edit: 1) Attaching FusionLog Result. Maybe it will be helpful

=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: User = [USER]
LOG: DisplayName = WebGrease, Version=1.5.1.25624, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35
(Fully-specified)
LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Projects/PROJECT_NAME/trunk/www.PROJECT_NAME.com/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = C:\Projects\PROJECT_NAME\trunk\www.PROJECT_NAME.com\bin
Calling assembly : System.Web.Optimization, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35.
===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: C:\Projects\PROJECT_NAME\trunk\www.PROJECT_NAME.com\web.config
LOG: Using host configuration file: 
LOG: Using machine configuration file from C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Post-policy reference: WebGrease, Version=1.5.1.25624, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35

2) Confirmed, The issue is in

<configuration  xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">

However, I don't understand why

Answer 1

I met this issue on a prod server, while everything worked fine on developer machine. These lines helped:

<configuration>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="WebGrease" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-1.5.2.0" newVersion="1.5.2.14234"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
</configuration>