diff --git a/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/baseCodeLensProvider.ts b/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/baseCodeLensProvider.ts
index ba25a71bcc6..d8cae37b818 100644
--- a/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/baseCodeLensProvider.ts
+++ b/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/baseCodeLensProvider.ts
@@ -4,11 +4,14 @@
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
+import * as nls from 'vscode-nls';
 import * as Proto from '../protocol';
 import { ITypeScriptServiceClient, ServerResponse } from '../typescriptService';
 import { escapeRegExp } from '../utils/regexp';
 import * as typeConverters from '../utils/typeConverters';
 
+const localize = nls.loadMessageBundle();
+
 export class ReferencesCodeLens extends vscode.CodeLens {
 	constructor(
 		public document: vscode.Uri,
@@ -51,6 +54,18 @@ export class CachedResponse<T extends Proto.Response> {
 }
 
 export abstract class TypeScriptBaseCodeLensProvider implements vscode.CodeLensProvider {
+
+	public static readonly cancelledCommand: vscode.Command = {
+		// Cancellation is not an error. Just show nothing until we can properly re-compute the code lens
+		title: '',
+		command: ''
+	};
+
+	public static readonly errorCommand: vscode.Command = {
+		title: localize('referenceErrorLabel', 'Could not determine references'),
+		command: ''
+	};
+
 	private onDidChangeCodeLensesEmitter = new vscode.EventEmitter<void>();
 
 	public constructor(
diff --git a/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/implementationsCodeLens.ts b/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/implementationsCodeLens.ts
index d56d166e3b1..27fedfdef54 100644
--- a/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/implementationsCodeLens.ts
+++ b/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/implementationsCodeLens.ts
@@ -26,10 +26,9 @@ export default class TypeScriptImplementationsCodeLensProvider extends TypeScrip
 		const args = typeConverters.Position.toFileLocationRequestArgs(codeLens.file, codeLens.range.start);
 		const response = await this.client.execute('implementation', args, token, /* lowPriority */ true);
 		if (response.type !== 'response' || !response.body) {
-			codeLens.command = {
-				title: localize('implementationsErrorLabel', 'Could not determine implementations'),
-				command: ''
-			};
+			codeLens.command = response.type === 'cancelled'
+				? TypeScriptBaseCodeLensProvider.cancelledCommand
+				: TypeScriptBaseCodeLensProvider.errorCommand;
 			return codeLens;
 		}
 
diff --git a/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/referencesCodeLens.ts b/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/referencesCodeLens.ts
index 88f96cd16c8..611d6ea5424 100644
--- a/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/referencesCodeLens.ts
+++ b/extensions/typescript-language-features/src/features/referencesCodeLens.ts
@@ -22,10 +22,9 @@ class TypeScriptReferencesCodeLensProvider extends TypeScriptBaseCodeLensProvide
 		const args = typeConverters.Position.toFileLocationRequestArgs(codeLens.file, codeLens.range.start);
 		const response = await this.client.execute('references', args, token, /* lowPriority */ true);
 		if (response.type !== 'response' || !response.body) {
-			codeLens.command = {
-				title: localize('referenceErrorLabel', 'Could not determine references'),
-				command: ''
-			};
+			codeLens.command = response.type === 'cancelled'
+				? TypeScriptBaseCodeLensProvider.cancelledCommand
+				: TypeScriptBaseCodeLensProvider.errorCommand;
 			return codeLens;
 		}