diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/browser/debugAdapterManager.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/browser/debugAdapterManager.ts
index bf1fc62feef..7c5a4122ed5 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/browser/debugAdapterManager.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/browser/debugAdapterManager.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ export class AdapterManager implements IAdapterManager {
 					if (!rawAdapter.type || (typeof rawAdapter.type !== 'string')) {
 						added.collector.error(nls.localize('debugNoType', "Debugger 'type' can not be omitted and must be of type 'string'."));
 					}
+					if (rawAdapter.enableBreakpointsFor) { // Support deprecated field since the php-debug extension depends on it
+						rawAdapter.enableBreakpointsFor.languageIds.forEach(modeId => {
+							this.breakpointModeIdsSet.add(modeId);
+						});
+					}
 
 					if (rawAdapter.type !== '*') {
 						const existing = this.getDebugger(rawAdapter.type);
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/common/debug.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/common/debug.ts
index 49b70cd0aed..b2dabf752df 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/common/debug.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/debug/common/debug.ts
@@ -630,6 +630,7 @@ export interface IDebuggerContribution extends IPlatformSpecificAdapterContribut
 
 	// supported languages
 	languages?: string[];
+	enableBreakpointsFor?: { languageIds: string[] };
 
 	// debug configuration support
 	configurationAttributes?: any;