diff --git a/vscode-extensions/commons-vscode/src/launch-util.ts b/vscode-extensions/commons-vscode/src/launch-util.ts
index 238d8004d..813560a66 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/commons-vscode/src/launch-util.ts
+++ b/vscode-extensions/commons-vscode/src/launch-util.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ export interface ActivatorOptions {
 type JavaOptions = {
     heap?: string
     home?: string
+    vmargs?: string[]
 }
 
 function getUserDefinedJvmHeap(wsOpts : VSCode.WorkspaceConfiguration,  dflt : string) : string {
@@ -51,6 +52,15 @@ function getUserDefinedJvmHeap(wsOpts : VSCode.WorkspaceConfiguration,  dflt : s
     return (javaOptions && javaOptions.heap) || dflt;
 }
 
+function getUserDefinedJvmArgs(wsOpts : VSCode.WorkspaceConfiguration) : string[] {
+    const dflt = [];
+    if (!wsOpts) {
+        return dflt;
+    }
+    let javaOptions : JavaOptions = wsOpts.get("java");
+    return javaOptions && javaOptions.vmargs || dflt;
+}
+
 function getUserDefinedJavaHome(wsOpts : VSCode.WorkspaceConfiguration) : string {
     if (!wsOpts) {
         return null;
@@ -62,6 +72,7 @@ function getUserDefinedJavaHome(wsOpts : VSCode.WorkspaceConfiguration) : string
 export function activate(options: ActivatorOptions, context: VSCode.ExtensionContext): Thenable<LanguageClient> {
     let DEBUG = options.DEBUG;
     let jvmHeap = getUserDefinedJvmHeap(options.workspaceOptions, options.jvmHeap);
+    let jvmArgs = getUserDefinedJvmArgs(options.workspaceOptions);
     if (options.CONNECT_TO_LS) {
         return VSCode.window.showInformationMessage("Start language server")
         .then((x) => connectToLS(context, options));
@@ -132,9 +143,12 @@ export function activate(options: ActivatorOptions, context: VSCode.ExtensionCon
                             if (options.checkjvm) {
                                 options.checkjvm(context, jvm);
                             }
-                            if (jvmHeap) {
+                            if (jvmHeap && !hasHeapArg(jvmArgs)) {
                                 args.unshift("-Xmx"+jvmHeap);
                             }
+                            if (jvmArgs) {
+                                args.unshift(...jvmArgs);
+                            }
                             if (DEBUG) {
                                 args.unshift(DEBUG_ARG);
                             }
@@ -157,6 +171,13 @@ export function activate(options: ActivatorOptions, context: VSCode.ExtensionCon
     }
 }
 
+function hasHeapArg(vmargs?: string[]) : boolean {
+    if (vmargs) {
+        return vmargs.some(a => a.startsWith("-Xmx"));
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
 function findServerJar(jarsDir) : string {
     let serverJars = FS.readdirSync(jarsDir).filter(jar => 
         jar.indexOf('language-server')>=0 &&
@@ -171,7 +192,6 @@ function findServerJar(jarsDir) : string {
     return Path.resolve(jarsDir, serverJars[0]);
 }
 
-
 function connectToLS(context: VSCode.ExtensionContext, options: ActivatorOptions): Promise<LanguageClient> {
     let connectionInfo = {
         port: 5007
diff --git a/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package-lock.json b/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package-lock.json
index ce1b7bfa6..ff7d1d5f9 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package-lock.json
+++ b/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "vscode-spring-boot",
-  "version": "1.5.0",
+  "version": "1.6.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 1,
   "requires": true,
   "dependencies": {
     "@pivotal-tools/commons-vscode": {
       "version": "file:../commons-vscode/pivotal-tools-commons-vscode-0.2.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-OTvqzfrIjJ2f5CkT9CZomCiOVx4vz4vViDhYV3zRtG27fD+tWeD2smnPOjRupBrRwqdOKuZY8ztLFX6rJu854w==",
+      "integrity": "sha512-hgbMlJKDCkG3xQsTNEKFcGgic/zuSkkqRD2HOx5xeHbPdFAuQbv7eXNNFRxaw1cLU8re/s4gHWAa56bESqP5RQ==",
       "requires": {
         "@pivotal-tools/jvm-launch-utils": "0.0.11",
         "deep-equal": "^1.0.1",
diff --git a/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package.json b/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package.json
index 3686c5df0..182b35b7c 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package.json
+++ b/vscode-extensions/vscode-spring-boot/package.json
@@ -127,6 +127,13 @@
           ],
           "default": null,
           "description": "Max JVM heap value, passed via -Xmx argument when launching spring-boot-language-server JVM process."
+        },
+        "spring-boot.ls.java.vmargs": {
+          "type": "array",
+          "items": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "description": "Additional 'user defined' VM args to pass to the language server process."
         }
       }
     },