diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/generic.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/generic.nix
index a66f84ecac2b..2b4927b21eba 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/generic.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/vscode/generic.nix
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (
 
         extraBwrapArgs = [
           "--bind-try /etc/nixos/ /etc/nixos/"
+          "--ro-bind-try /etc/xdg/ /etc/xdg/"
         ];
 
         # symlink shared assets, including icons and desktop entries