diff --git a/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/XMLLanguageServer.java b/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/XMLLanguageServer.java
index 1f1f951148..14195d9709 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/XMLLanguageServer.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/XMLLanguageServer.java
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
 import static org.eclipse.lsp4j.jsonrpc.CompletableFutures.computeAsync;
 import static org.eclipse.lsp4xml.utils.VersionHelper.getVersion;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.LinkOption;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.ScheduledExecutorService;
@@ -44,11 +48,13 @@
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.AllXMLSettings;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.InitializationOptionsSettings;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.LogsSettings;
+import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.ServerSettings;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.XMLGeneralClientSettings;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.XMLExperimentalCapabilities;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.XMLFormattingOptions;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.capabilities.ServerCapabilitiesInitializer;
 import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings.capabilities.XMLCapabilityManager;
+import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.utils.FilesUtils;
 
 /**
  * XML language server.
@@ -135,6 +141,18 @@ public void updateSettings(Object initializationOptionsSettings) {
 			if (newCompletions != null) {
 				xmlTextDocumentService.updateCompletionSettings(newCompletions);
 			}
+
+			ServerSettings serverSettings = xmlClientSettings.getServer();
+			if(serverSettings != null) {
+				String workDir = serverSettings.getWorkDir();
+
+				Path p = new File(workDir).toPath();
+				if(Files.isDirectory(p, LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) {
+					if(workDir != null && System.getProperty(FilesUtils.LSP4XML_WORKDIR_KEY).equals(workDir) == false) {
+						System.setProperty(FilesUtils.LSP4XML_WORKDIR_KEY, workDir);
+					}
+				}	
+			}
 		
 			// Experimental capabilities
 			XMLExperimentalCapabilities experimental = xmlClientSettings.getExperimental();
diff --git a/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/ServerSettings.java b/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/ServerSettings.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c67f54f2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/ServerSettings.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+* Copyright (c) 2019 Red Hat Inc. and others.
+* All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+* which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+* http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v20.html
+*
+* Contributors:
+*     Red Hat Inc. - initial API and implementation
+*******************************************************************************/
+
+package org.eclipse.lsp4xml.settings;
+
+import org.eclipse.lsp4xml.utils.JSONUtility;
+
+/**
+ * ServerSettings
+ */
+public class ServerSettings {
+
+	private String workDir;
+
+	
+	/**
+	 * @return the workDir
+	 */
+	public String getWorkDir() {
+		return workDir;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @param workDir the workDir to set
+	 */
+	public void setWorkDir(String workDir) {
+		this.workDir = workDir;
+	}
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/XMLGeneralClientSettings.java b/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/XMLGeneralClientSettings.java
index f147ced0a7..83c40c7116 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/XMLGeneralClientSettings.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.lsp4xml/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lsp4xml/settings/XMLGeneralClientSettings.java
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ public class XMLGeneralClientSettings {
 
 	private CompletionSettings completion;
 
+	private ServerSettings server;
+
 	public void setLogs(LogsSettings logs) {
 		this.logs = logs;
 	}
@@ -78,6 +80,20 @@ public CompletionSettings getCompletion() {
 		return completion;
 	}
 
+		/**
+	 * @return the server
+	 */
+	public ServerSettings getServer() {
+		return server;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @param server the server to set
+	 */
+	public void setServer(ServerSettings server) {
+		this.server = server;
+	}
+
 	public static XMLGeneralClientSettings getGeneralXMLSettings(Object initializationOptionsSettings) {
 		return JSONUtility.toModel(initializationOptionsSettings, XMLGeneralClientSettings.class);
 	}