diff --git a/extensions/emmet/src/util.ts b/extensions/emmet/src/util.ts
index 69ad19071c6..a99e71e49f5 100644
--- a/extensions/emmet/src/util.ts
+++ b/extensions/emmet/src/util.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ export function getProfile(syntax: string): any {
 	let config = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration('emmet')['syntaxProfiles'] || {};
 	let options = config[syntax];
 	if (!options || typeof options === 'string') {
+		if (options === 'xhtml') {
+			return {
+				selfClosingStyle: 'xhtml'
+			};
+		}
 		return {};
 	}
 	let newOptions = {};