diff --git a/extensions/data-workspace/src/common/dataWorkspaceExtension.ts b/extensions/data-workspace/src/common/dataWorkspaceExtension.ts
index 1dc9dc2f4f..b95b2aa104 100644
--- a/extensions/data-workspace/src/common/dataWorkspaceExtension.ts
+++ b/extensions/data-workspace/src/common/dataWorkspaceExtension.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ export class DataWorkspaceExtension implements IExtension {
 	constructor(private workspaceService: WorkspaceService) {
 	}
 
-	getProjectsInWorkspace(): vscode.Uri[] {
-		return this.workspaceService.getProjectsInWorkspace();
+	getProjectsInWorkspace(ext?: string): vscode.Uri[] {
+		return this.workspaceService.getProjectsInWorkspace(ext);
 	}
 
 	addProjectsToWorkspace(projectFiles: vscode.Uri[], workspaceFilePath?: vscode.Uri): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/extensions/data-workspace/src/dataworkspace.d.ts b/extensions/data-workspace/src/dataworkspace.d.ts
index 32d92e420d..268e1228e9 100644
--- a/extensions/data-workspace/src/dataworkspace.d.ts
+++ b/extensions/data-workspace/src/dataworkspace.d.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@ declare module 'dataworkspace' {
 	export interface IExtension {
 		/**
 		 * Returns all the projects in the workspace
+		 * @param ext project extension to filter on. If this is passed in, this will only return projects with this file extension
 		 */
-		getProjectsInWorkspace(): vscode.Uri[];
+		getProjectsInWorkspace(ext?: string): vscode.Uri[];
 
 		/**
 		 * Add projects to the workspace
diff --git a/extensions/data-workspace/src/services/workspaceService.ts b/extensions/data-workspace/src/services/workspaceService.ts
index 77016638ea..31cfb6baf4 100644
--- a/extensions/data-workspace/src/services/workspaceService.ts
+++ b/extensions/data-workspace/src/services/workspaceService.ts
@@ -155,8 +155,15 @@ export class WorkspaceService implements IWorkspaceService {
 		return projectTypes;
 	}
 
-	getProjectsInWorkspace(): vscode.Uri[] {
-		return vscode.workspace.workspaceFile ? this.getWorkspaceConfigurationValue<string[]>(ProjectsConfigurationName).map(project => this.toUri(project)) : [];
+	getProjectsInWorkspace(ext?: string): vscode.Uri[] {
+		let projects = vscode.workspace.workspaceFile ? this.getWorkspaceConfigurationValue<string[]>(ProjectsConfigurationName).map(project => this.toUri(project)) : [];
+
+		// filter by specified extension
+		if (ext) {
+			projects = projects.filter(p => p.fsPath.toLowerCase().endsWith(ext.toLowerCase()));
+		}
+
+		return projects;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/common/utils.ts b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/common/utils.ts
index 1287c2bed1..a8d26d6509 100644
--- a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/common/utils.ts
+++ b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/common/utils.ts
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ export async function getSqlProjectFilesInFolder(folderPath: string): Promise<st
  */
 export function getSqlProjectsInWorkspace(): vscode.Uri[] {
 	const api = getDataWorkspaceExtensionApi();
-	return api.getProjectsInWorkspace().filter((p: vscode.Uri) => path.extname(p.fsPath) === constants.sqlprojExtension);
+	return api.getProjectsInWorkspace(constants.sqlprojExtension);
 }
 
 export function getDataWorkspaceExtensionApi(): dataworkspace.IExtension {
diff --git a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/controllers/projectController.ts b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/controllers/projectController.ts
index 4a32f480ed..7fb31ff756 100644
--- a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/controllers/projectController.ts
+++ b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/controllers/projectController.ts
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ export class ProjectsController {
 			if ((<IProjectReferenceSettings>settings).projectName !== undefined) {
 				// get project path and guid
 				const projectReferenceSettings = settings as IProjectReferenceSettings;
-				const workspaceProjects = await utils.getSqlProjectsInWorkspace();
+				const workspaceProjects = utils.getSqlProjectsInWorkspace();
 				const referencedProject = await Project.openProject(workspaceProjects.filter(p => path.parse(p.fsPath).name === projectReferenceSettings.projectName)[0].fsPath);
 				const relativePath = path.relative(project.projectFolderPath, referencedProject?.projectFilePath!);
 				projectReferenceSettings.projectRelativePath = vscode.Uri.file(relativePath);
diff --git a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/dialogs/addDatabaseReferenceDialog.test.ts b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/dialogs/addDatabaseReferenceDialog.test.ts
index cb0d2687d1..f68bcae4db 100644
--- a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/dialogs/addDatabaseReferenceDialog.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/dialogs/addDatabaseReferenceDialog.test.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe('Add Database Reference Dialog', () => {
 
 	beforeEach(function (): void {
 		const dataWorkspaceMock = TypeMoq.Mock.ofType<dataworkspace.IExtension>();
-		dataWorkspaceMock.setup(x => x.getProjectsInWorkspace()).returns(() => []);
+		dataWorkspaceMock.setup(x => x.getProjectsInWorkspace(TypeMoq.It.isAny())).returns(() => []);
 		sinon.stub(vscode.extensions, 'getExtension').returns(<any>{ exports: dataWorkspaceMock.object });
 	});
 
diff --git a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/projectController.test.ts b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/projectController.test.ts
index f04ded635c..148d6c3c84 100644
--- a/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/projectController.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/sql-database-projects/src/test/projectController.test.ts
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ describe('ProjectsController', function (): void {
 			const project2 = await Project.openProject(vscode.Uri.file(projPath2).fsPath);
 			const showErrorMessageSpy = sinon.spy(vscode.window, 'showErrorMessage');
 			const dataWorkspaceMock = TypeMoq.Mock.ofType<dataworkspace.IExtension>();
-			dataWorkspaceMock.setup(x => x.getProjectsInWorkspace()).returns(() => [vscode.Uri.file(project1.projectFilePath), vscode.Uri.file(project2.projectFilePath)]);
+			dataWorkspaceMock.setup(x => x.getProjectsInWorkspace(TypeMoq.It.isAny())).returns(() => [vscode.Uri.file(project1.projectFilePath), vscode.Uri.file(project2.projectFilePath)]);
 			sinon.stub(vscode.extensions, 'getExtension').returns(<any>{ exports: dataWorkspaceMock.object });
 
 			// add project reference from project1 to project2