diff --git a/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeItem.ts b/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeItem.ts
index 1009621ede..09a34f8d60 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeItem.ts
+++ b/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeItem.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ export class BookTreeItem extends vscode.TreeItem {
 		public readonly tableOfContents: any[],
 		public readonly collapsibleState: vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState,
 		public uri?: string,
-		public readonly type?: vscode.FileType,
 		public command?: vscode.Command
 	) {
 		super(title, collapsibleState);
diff --git a/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeView.ts b/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeView.ts
index dd47b10930..0a35d4c590 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeView.ts
+++ b/extensions/notebook/src/book/bookTreeView.ts
@@ -40,13 +40,23 @@ export class BookTreeViewProvider implements vscode.TreeDataProvider<BookTreeIte
 		return allFiles;
 	}
 
-	async openNotebook(resource: vscode.Uri): Promise<void> {
+	async openNotebook(resource: string): Promise<void> {
 		try {
 			let doc = await vscode.workspace.openTextDocument(resource);
 			vscode.window.showTextDocument(doc);
 		} catch (e) {
 			vscode.window.showErrorMessage(localize('openNotebookError', 'Open file {0} failed: {1}',
-				resource.fsPath,
+				resource,
+				e instanceof Error ? e.message : e));
+		}
+	}
+
+	async openMarkdown(resource: string): Promise<void> {
+		try {
+			vscode.commands.executeCommand('markdown.showPreview', vscode.Uri.file(resource));
+		} catch (e) {
+			vscode.window.showErrorMessage(localize('openMarkdownError', 'Open file {0} failed: {1}',
+				resource,
 				e instanceof Error ? e.message : e));
 		}
 	}
@@ -94,10 +104,10 @@ export class BookTreeViewProvider implements vscode.TreeDataProvider<BookTreeIte
 				// Note: Currently, if there is an ipynb and a md file with the same name, Jupyter Books only shows the notebook.
 				// Following Jupyter Books behavior for now
 				if (fs.existsSync(pathToNotebook)) {
-					let notebook = new BookTreeItem(sec[i].title, root, sec[i].sections, sec[i].sections ? vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.Expanded : vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.None, sec[i].url, vscode.FileType.File, { command: 'bookTreeView.openNotebook', title: 'Open Notebook', arguments: [pathToNotebook], });
+					let notebook = new BookTreeItem(sec[i].title, root, sec[i].sections, sec[i].sections ? vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.Expanded : vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.None, sec[i].url, { command: 'bookTreeView.openNotebook', title: 'Open Notebook', arguments: [pathToNotebook], });
 					notebooks.push(notebook);
 				} else if (fs.existsSync(pathToMarkdown)) {
-					let markdown = new BookTreeItem(sec[i].title, root, sec[i].sections, sec[i].sections ? vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.Expanded : vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.None, sec[i].url, vscode.FileType.File, { command: 'bookTreeView.openNotebook', title: 'Open Notebook', arguments: [pathToMarkdown], });
+					let markdown = new BookTreeItem(sec[i].title, root, sec[i].sections, sec[i].sections ? vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.Expanded : vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.None, sec[i].url, { command: 'bookTreeView.openMarkdown', title: 'Open Markdown', arguments: [pathToMarkdown], });
 					notebooks.push(markdown);
 				} else {
 					vscode.window.showErrorMessage(localize('missingFileError', 'Missing file : {0}', sec[i].title));
diff --git a/extensions/notebook/src/extension.ts b/extensions/notebook/src/extension.ts
index 1e621baa7c..8a92f68a31 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/src/extension.ts
+++ b/extensions/notebook/src/extension.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export async function activate(extensionContext: vscode.ExtensionContext): Promi
 	const bookTreeViewProvider = new BookTreeViewProvider(vscode.workspace.rootPath || '');
 	vscode.window.registerTreeDataProvider('bookTreeView', bookTreeViewProvider);
 	vscode.commands.registerCommand('bookTreeView.openNotebook', (resource) => bookTreeViewProvider.openNotebook(resource));
+	vscode.commands.registerCommand('bookTreeView.openMarkdown', (resource) => bookTreeViewProvider.openMarkdown(resource));
 
 	extensionContext.subscriptions.push(vscode.commands.registerCommand('_notebook.command.new', (context?: azdata.ConnectedContext) => {
 		let connectionProfile: azdata.IConnectionProfile = undefined;