diff --git a/headless-services/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java b/headless-services/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java
index ade315e13..ecd5e4f2d 100644
--- a/headless-services/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java
+++ b/headless-services/commons/commons-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/languageserver/util/SimpleTextDocumentService.java
@@ -343,9 +343,10 @@ public class SimpleTextDocumentService implements TextDocumentService, DocumentE
 	  return async.invoke(() -> {
 		ReferencesHandler h = this.referencesHandler;
 		if (h != null) {
-			return h.handle(params);
+			List<? extends Location> list = h.handle(params);
+			return list != null && list.isEmpty() ? null : list;
 		}
-		return Collections.emptyList();
+		return null;
 	  });
 	}
 
diff --git a/headless-services/commons/language-server-starter/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/languageserver/starter/LanguageServerAutoConf.java b/headless-services/commons/language-server-starter/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/languageserver/starter/LanguageServerAutoConf.java
index 29c663bc8..36fc50d14 100644
--- a/headless-services/commons/language-server-starter/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/languageserver/starter/LanguageServerAutoConf.java
+++ b/headless-services/commons/language-server-starter/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/languageserver/starter/LanguageServerAutoConf.java
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.util.text.LanguageId;
 import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.util.text.TextDocument;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
-import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
 
 @Configuration
@@ -96,7 +95,7 @@ public class LanguageServerAutoConf {
 						return handler.handle(position);
 					}
 				}
-				return ImmutableList.of();
+				return null;
  			});
 		}
 	}