diff --git a/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/ReferencesHandler.java b/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/ReferencesHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da0f0ef60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/ReferencesHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2017 Pivotal, Inc.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Pivotal, Inc. - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.languageserver.util;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+
+import org.eclipse.lsp4j.Location;
+import org.eclipse.lsp4j.ReferenceParams;
+
+@FunctionalInterface
+public interface ReferencesHandler {
+
+	CompletableFuture<List<? extends Location>> handle(ReferenceParams params);
+
+}
diff --git a/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java b/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java
index 52b287815..a6d0363e4 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java
+++ b/vscode-extensions/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ public class SimpleTextDocumentService implements TextDocumentService {
 	private HoverHandler hoverHandler = null;
 
 	private DefinitionHandler definitionHandler;
+	private ReferencesHandler referencesHandler;
 
 	public SimpleTextDocumentService(SimpleLanguageServer server) {
 		this.server = server;
@@ -99,6 +100,11 @@ public class SimpleTextDocumentService implements TextDocumentService {
 		this.definitionHandler = h;
 	}
 
+	public synchronized void onRefeences(ReferencesHandler h) {
+		Assert.isNull("A references handler is already set, multiple handlers not supported yet", referencesHandler);
+		this.referencesHandler = h;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Gets all documents this service is tracking, generally these are the documents that have been opened / changed,
 	 * and not yet closed.
@@ -204,8 +210,8 @@ public class SimpleTextDocumentService implements TextDocumentService {
 	}
 
 	public final static CompletionList NO_COMPLETIONS = new CompletionList(false, Collections.emptyList());
-
 	public final static CompletableFuture<Hover> NO_HOVER = CompletableFuture.completedFuture(new Hover(ImmutableList.of(), null));
+	public final static CompletableFuture<List<? extends Location>> NO_REFERENCES = CompletableFuture.completedFuture(ImmutableList.of());
 
 	@Override
 	public CompletableFuture<Either<List<CompletionItem>, CompletionList>> completion(TextDocumentPositionParams position) {
@@ -253,6 +259,10 @@ public class SimpleTextDocumentService implements TextDocumentService {
 
 	@Override
 	public CompletableFuture<List<? extends Location>> references(ReferenceParams params) {
+		ReferencesHandler h = this.referencesHandler;
+		if (h != null) {
+			return h.handle(params);
+		}
 		return CompletableFuture.completedFuture(Collections.emptyList());
 	}