diff --git a/eng/common/scripts/Helpers/Package-Helpers.ps1 b/eng/common/scripts/Helpers/Package-Helpers.ps1
index a8537e22a..084bc34ab 100644
--- a/eng/common/scripts/Helpers/Package-Helpers.ps1
+++ b/eng/common/scripts/Helpers/Package-Helpers.ps1
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ function GetValueSafelyFrom-Yaml {
   )
   $current = $YamlContentAsHashtable
   foreach ($key in $Keys) {
-    if ($current.ContainsKey($key) -or $current[$key]) {
+    if ($current -is [HashTable] -and ($current.ContainsKey($key) -or $current[$key])) {
       $current = $current[$key]
     }
     else {
diff --git a/eng/common/scripts/Package-Properties.ps1 b/eng/common/scripts/Package-Properties.ps1
index 5f5657508..d64e671d1 100644
--- a/eng/common/scripts/Package-Properties.ps1
+++ b/eng/common/scripts/Package-Properties.ps1
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ class PackageProps {
 
             if ($ciArtifactResult) {
                 $this.ArtifactDetails = [Hashtable]$ciArtifactResult.ArtifactConfig
+                $this.CIParameters["CIMatrixConfigs"] = @()
 
                 # if we know this is the matrix for our file, we should now see if there is a custom matrix config for the package
                 $matrixConfigList = GetValueSafelyFrom-Yaml $ciArtifactResult.ParsedYml @("extends", "parameters", "MatrixConfigs")
@@ -196,11 +197,22 @@ function Get-PrPkgProperties([string]$InputDiffJson) {
     $additionalValidationPackages = @()
     $lookup = @{}
 
+    # this is the primary loop that identifies the packages that have changes
     foreach ($pkg in $allPackageProperties) {
         $pkgDirectory = Resolve-Path "$($pkg.DirectoryPath)"
         $lookupKey = ($pkg.DirectoryPath).Replace($RepoRoot, "").TrimStart('\/')
         $lookup[$lookupKey] = $pkg
 
+        # we only honor the individual artifact triggers
+        # if we were to honor the ci-level triggers, we would simply
+        # end up in a situation where any change to a service would
+        # still trigger every package in that service. individual package triggers
+        # must be added to handle this.
+        $triggeringPaths = @()
+        if ($pkg.ArtifactDetails -and $pkg.ArtifactDetails["triggeringPaths"]) {
+            $triggeringPaths = $pkg.ArtifactDetails["triggeringPaths"]
+        }
+
         foreach ($file in $targetedFiles) {
             $shouldExclude = $false
             foreach ($exclude in $excludePaths) {
@@ -213,7 +225,28 @@ function Get-PrPkgProperties([string]$InputDiffJson) {
                 continue
             }
             $filePath = (Join-Path $RepoRoot $file)
+
             $shouldInclude = $filePath -like (Join-Path "$pkgDirectory" "*")
+
+            # this implementation guesses the working directory of the ci.yml
+            foreach($triggerPath in $triggeringPaths) {
+                $resolvedRelativePath = (Join-Path $RepoRoot $triggerPath)
+                # utilize the various trigger paths against the targeted file here
+                if (!$triggerPath.StartsWith("/")){
+                    $resolvedRelativePath = (Join-Path $RepoRoot "sdk" "$($pkg.ServiceDirectory)" $triggerPath)
+                }
+
+                # if we are including this package due to one of its additional trigger paths, we need
+                # to ensure we're counting it as included for validation, not as an actual package change
+                if ($resolvedRelativePath) {
+                    $includedForValidation = $filePath -like (Join-Path "$resolvedRelativePath" "*")
+                    $shouldInclude = $shouldInclude -or $includedForValidation
+                    if ($includedForValidation) {
+                        $pkg.IncludedForValidation = $true
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
             if ($shouldInclude) {
                 $packagesWithChanges += $pkg
 
@@ -227,6 +260,9 @@ function Get-PrPkgProperties([string]$InputDiffJson) {
         }
     }
 
+    # add all of the packages that were added purely for validation purposes
+    # this is executed separately because we need to identify packages added this way as only included for validation
+    # we don't actually need to build or analyze them. only test them.
     $existingPackageNames = @($packagesWithChanges | ForEach-Object { $_.Name })
     foreach ($addition in $additionalValidationPackages) {
         $key = $addition.Replace($RepoRoot, "").TrimStart('\/')
@@ -241,10 +277,18 @@ function Get-PrPkgProperties([string]$InputDiffJson) {
         }
     }
 
+    # now pass along the set of packages we've identified, the diff itself, and the full set of package properties
+    # to locate any additional packages that should be included for validation
     if ($AdditionalValidationPackagesFromPackageSetFn -and (Test-Path "Function:$AdditionalValidationPackagesFromPackageSetFn")) {
         $packagesWithChanges += &$AdditionalValidationPackagesFromPackageSetFn $packagesWithChanges $diff $allPackageProperties
     }
 
+    # finally, if we have gotten all the way here and we still don't have any packages, we should include the template service
+    # packages. We should never return NO validation.
+    if ($packagesWithChanges.Count -eq 0) {
+        $packagesWithChanges += ($allPackageProperties | Where-Object { $_.ServiceDirectory -eq "template" })
+    }
+
     return $packagesWithChanges
 }