diff --git a/src/vs/base/common/cancellation.ts b/src/vs/base/common/cancellation.ts
index 6797298bd8b..e132d57e5e8 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/common/cancellation.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/common/cancellation.ts
@@ -45,8 +45,7 @@ class MutableToken implements CancellationToken {
 			this._isCancelled = true;
 			if (this._emitter) {
 				this._emitter.fire(undefined);
-				this._emitter.dispose();
-				this._emitter = undefined;
+				this.dispose();
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -64,6 +63,13 @@ class MutableToken implements CancellationToken {
 		}
 		return this._emitter.event;
 	}
+
+	public dispose(): void {
+		if (this._emitter) {
+			this._emitter.dispose();
+			this._emitter = undefined;
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 export class CancellationTokenSource {
@@ -93,6 +99,13 @@ export class CancellationTokenSource {
 	}
 
 	dispose(): void {
-		this.cancel();
+		if (!this._token) {
+			// ensure to initialize with an empty token if we had none
+			this._token = CancellationToken.None;
+
+		} else if (this._token instanceof MutableToken) {
+			// actually dispose
+			this._token.dispose();
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/vs/vscode.d.ts b/src/vs/vscode.d.ts
index c3a4bb0a3f9..d53e5748124 100644
--- a/src/vs/vscode.d.ts
+++ b/src/vs/vscode.d.ts
@@ -1329,7 +1329,7 @@ declare module 'vscode' {
 		cancel(): void;
 
 		/**
-		 * Dispose object and free resources. Will call [cancel](#CancellationTokenSource.cancel).
+		 * Dispose object and free resources.
 		 */
 		dispose(): void;
 	}