diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostStoragePaths.ts b/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostStoragePaths.ts
index f6f1f09ca8e..c6dbd5b20d5 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostStoragePaths.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostStoragePaths.ts
@@ -177,7 +177,13 @@ async function readLockfileContents(logService: ILogService, filename: string):
 		return null;
 	}
 
-	return JSON.parse(String(contents));
+	try {
+		return JSON.parse(String(contents));
+	} catch (err) {
+		// cannot parse the file
+		logService.error(err);
+		return null;
+	}
 }
 
 /**