diff --git a/extensions/javascript/package.json b/extensions/javascript/package.json
index 8385c006d33..9bc4eee60df 100644
--- a/extensions/javascript/package.json
+++ b/extensions/javascript/package.json
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 			},
 			{
 				"id": "jsx-tags",
+				"aliases": [],
 				"configuration": "./tags-language-configuration.json"
 			}
 		],
diff --git a/src/vs/editor/common/services/languagesRegistry.ts b/src/vs/editor/common/services/languagesRegistry.ts
index 59a1ff0934b..f3966c7a3a8 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/common/services/languagesRegistry.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/common/services/languagesRegistry.ts
@@ -164,20 +164,30 @@ export class LanguagesRegistry {
 
 		resolvedLanguage.aliases.push(langId);
 
+		let langAliases: string[] = null;
 		if (typeof lang.aliases !== 'undefined' && Array.isArray(lang.aliases)) {
-			for (let i = 0; i < lang.aliases.length; i++) {
-				if (!lang.aliases[i] || lang.aliases[i].length === 0) {
-					continue;
-				}
-				resolvedLanguage.aliases.push(lang.aliases[i]);
+			if (lang.aliases.length === 0) {
+				// signal that this language should not get a name
+				langAliases = [null];
+			} else {
+				langAliases = lang.aliases;
 			}
 		}
 
-		let containsAliases = (typeof lang.aliases !== 'undefined' && Array.isArray(lang.aliases) && lang.aliases.length > 0);
-		if (containsAliases && lang.aliases[0] === null) {
+		if (langAliases !== null) {
+			for (let i = 0; i < langAliases.length; i++) {
+				if (!langAliases[i] || langAliases[i].length === 0) {
+					continue;
+				}
+				resolvedLanguage.aliases.push(langAliases[i]);
+			}
+		}
+
+		let containsAliases = (langAliases !== null && langAliases.length > 0);
+		if (containsAliases && langAliases[0] === null) {
 			// signal that this language should not get a name
 		} else {
-			let bestName = (containsAliases ? lang.aliases[0] : null) || langId;
+			let bestName = (containsAliases ? langAliases[0] : null) || langId;
 			if (containsAliases || !resolvedLanguage.name) {
 				resolvedLanguage.name = bestName;
 			}
diff --git a/src/vs/editor/test/common/services/languagesRegistry.test.ts b/src/vs/editor/test/common/services/languagesRegistry.test.ts
index 9adf2bcc48e..42ed949ff4f 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/test/common/services/languagesRegistry.test.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/test/common/services/languagesRegistry.test.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ suite('LanguagesRegistry', () => {
 		registry._registerLanguages([{
 			id: 'modeId',
 			extensions: [],
-			aliases: [],
 			mimetypes: ['bla'],
 		}]);
 
@@ -173,6 +172,32 @@ suite('LanguagesRegistry', () => {
 		assert.deepEqual(registry.getLanguageName('a'), 'A3');
 	});
 
+	test('empty aliases array means no alias', () => {
+		let registry = new LanguagesRegistry(false);
+
+		registry._registerLanguages([{
+			id: 'a'
+		}]);
+
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getRegisteredLanguageNames(), ['a']);
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getModeIdsFromLanguageName('a'), ['a']);
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getModeIdForLanguageNameLowercase('a'), 'a');
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getLanguageName('a'), 'a');
+
+		registry._registerLanguages([{
+			id: 'b',
+			aliases: []
+		}]);
+
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getRegisteredLanguageNames(), ['a']);
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getModeIdsFromLanguageName('a'), ['a']);
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getModeIdsFromLanguageName('b'), []);
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getModeIdForLanguageNameLowercase('a'), 'a');
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getModeIdForLanguageNameLowercase('b'), 'b');
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getLanguageName('a'), 'a');
+		assert.deepEqual(registry.getLanguageName('b'), null);
+	});
+
 	test('extensions', () => {
 		let registry = new LanguagesRegistry(false);