diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdLSPServer.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdLSPServer.cpp
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdLSPServer.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/ClangdLSPServer.cpp
@@ -341,7 +341,8 @@
                                *NegotiatedOffsetEncoding);
 
   ClangdServerOpts.SemanticHighlighting =
-      Params.capabilities.SemanticHighlighting;
+      Params.capabilities.SemanticHighlighting |
+      Params.capabilities.ExperimentalSemanticHighlighting;
   if (Params.rootUri && *Params.rootUri)
     ClangdServerOpts.WorkspaceRoot = Params.rootUri->file();
   else if (Params.rootPath && !Params.rootPath->empty())
@@ -423,11 +424,18 @@
         }}}};
   if (NegotiatedOffsetEncoding)
     Result["offsetEncoding"] = *NegotiatedOffsetEncoding;
+  llvm::json::Object TMScopes{{"scopes", buildHighlightScopeLookupTable()}};
+  // Theia needs the text mate scopes in the normal capabilities object.
   if (Params.capabilities.SemanticHighlighting)
     Result.getObject("capabilities")
-        ->insert(
-            {"semanticHighlighting",
-             llvm::json::Object{{"scopes", buildHighlightScopeLookupTable()}}});
+        ->insert({"semanticHighlighting", (llvm::json::Object)TMScopes});
+  // The vscode language client can currently only get the text mate scopes via
+  // the experimental server capability.
+  if (Params.capabilities.ExperimentalSemanticHighlighting)
+    Result.getObject("capabilities")
+        ->insert({"experimental",
+                  llvm::json::Object{
+                      {"semanticHighlighting", (llvm::json::Object)TMScopes}}});
   Reply(std::move(Result));
 }
 
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.h b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.h
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.h
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.h
@@ -416,6 +416,10 @@
   /// textDocument.semanticHighlightingCapabilities.semanticHighlighting
   bool SemanticHighlighting = false;
 
+  /// Only used because there is no other way to pass the text mate scopes to
+  /// the vscode extension other than as experimental server capabilities.
+  bool ExperimentalSemanticHighlighting = false;
+
   /// Supported encodings for LSP character offsets. (clangd extension).
   llvm::Optional<std::vector<OffsetEncoding>> offsetEncoding;
 
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.cpp
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/Protocol.cpp
@@ -272,6 +272,12 @@
   const llvm::json::Object *O = Params.getAsObject();
   if (!O)
     return false;
+  if (auto *Experimental = O->getObject("experimental"))
+    if (auto *SemanticHighlighting =
+            Experimental->getObject("semanticHighlightingCapabilities"))
+      if (auto SemanticHighlightingSupport =
+              SemanticHighlighting->getBoolean("semanticHighlighting"))
+        R.ExperimentalSemanticHighlighting = *SemanticHighlightingSupport;
   if (auto *TextDocument = O->getObject("textDocument")) {
     if (auto *SemanticHighlighting =
             TextDocument->getObject("semanticHighlightingCapabilities")) {
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/experimental-semantic-highlighting.test b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/experimental-semantic-highlighting.test
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/experimental-semantic-highlighting.test
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# RUN: clangd -lit-test < %s | FileCheck -strict-whitespace %s
+{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":0,"method":"initialize","params":{"processId":123,"rootPath":"clangd","capabilities":{"experimental":{"semanticHighlightingCapabilities":{"semanticHighlighting":true}}},"trace":"off"}}
+---
+#      CHECK:  "id": 0,
+#      CHECK:      "experimental": {
+# CHECK-NEXT:        "semanticHighlighting": {
+# CHECK-NEXT:          "scopes": [
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "variable.other.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "entity.name.function.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "entity.name.function.method.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "variable.other.field.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "entity.name.type.class.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "entity.name.type.enum.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "variable.other.enummember.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "entity.name.namespace.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ],
+# CHECK-NEXT:            [
+# CHECK-NEXT:              "entity.name.type.template.cpp"
+# CHECK-NEXT:            ]
+# CHECK-NEXT:          ]
+# CHECK-NEXT:        }
+# CHECK-NEXT:      },
+---
+{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":3,"method":"shutdown"}
+---
+{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"exit"}
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/semantic-highlighting.test b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/semantic-highlighting.test
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/semantic-highlighting.test
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clangd/test/semantic-highlighting.test
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":0,"method":"initialize","params":{"processId":123,"rootPath":"clangd","capabilities":{"textDocument":{"semanticHighlightingCapabilities":{"semanticHighlighting":true}}},"trace":"off"}}
 ---
 #      CHECK:  "id": 0,
-# CHECK:      "semanticHighlighting": {
+#      CHECK:      "semanticHighlighting": {
 # CHECK-NEXT:        "scopes": [
 # CHECK-NEXT:          [
 # CHECK-NEXT:            "variable.other.cpp"