diff --git a/src/vs/platform/environment/node/environmentService.ts b/src/vs/platform/environment/node/environmentService.ts
index f073e0fce56d701e4031c46b619445b560060dc0..0270370c755dc5dcaea972a895f6056b3588a3ae 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/environment/node/environmentService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/environment/node/environmentService.ts
@@ -15,38 +15,18 @@ import { memoize } from 'vs/base/common/decorators';
 import pkg from 'vs/platform/node/package';
 import product from 'vs/platform/node/product';
 
-function getUniqueUserId(): string {
-	let username: string;
-	if (process.platform === 'win32') {
-		username = process.env.USERNAME;
-	} else {
-		username = process.env.USER;
-	}
-
-	if (!username) {
-		return ''; // fail gracefully if there is no user name
-	}
-
-	// use sha256 to ensure the userid value can be used in filenames and are unique
-	return crypto.createHash('sha256').update(username).digest('hex').substr(0, 6);
-}
-
 function getNixIPCHandle(userDataPath: string, type: string): string {
 	return path.join(userDataPath, `${pkg.version}-${type}.sock`);
 }
 
-function getWin32IPCHandle(type: string): string {
-	// Support to run VS Code multiple times as different user
-	// by making the socket unique over the logged in user
-	const userId = getUniqueUserId();
-	const name = product.applicationName + (userId ? `-${userId}` : '');
-
-	return `\\\\.\\pipe\\${name}-${pkg.version}-${type}-sock`;
+function getWin32IPCHandle(userDataPath: string, type: string): string {
+	const scope = crypto.createHash('md5').update(userDataPath).digest('hex');
+	return `\\\\.\\pipe\\${scope}-${pkg.version}-${type}-sock`;
 }
 
 function getIPCHandle(userDataPath: string, type: string): string {
 	if (process.platform === 'win32') {
-		return getWin32IPCHandle(type);
+		return getWin32IPCHandle(userDataPath, type);
 	} else {
 		return getNixIPCHandle(userDataPath, type);
 	}