diff --git a/src/vs/platform/configuration/common/configurationModels.ts b/src/vs/platform/configuration/common/configurationModels.ts
index dcd1c8eb569d165d8c8e017fbf1a3e31b06dcd46..4385e72b32303e4e11588078aeeffc3768f666d9 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/configuration/common/configurationModels.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/configuration/common/configurationModels.ts
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ export class AbstractConfigurationChangeEvent {
 
 	protected updateKeys(configuration: ConfigurationModel, keys: string[], resource?: URI): void {
 		for (const key of keys) {
-			configuration.setValue(key, true);
+			configuration.setValue(key, {});
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/vs/platform/configuration/test/common/configurationModels.test.ts b/src/vs/platform/configuration/test/common/configurationModels.test.ts
index eadf6dd928ec18f4c2abe73e9217118a64847ffa..0bf2c7ea1549a3cbbf5b3da9936d0bc11c8b805d 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/configuration/test/common/configurationModels.test.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/configuration/test/common/configurationModels.test.ts
@@ -415,6 +415,17 @@ suite('ConfigurationChangeEvent', () => {
 		assert.ok(testObject.affectsConfiguration('[markdown]'));
 	});
 
+	test('changeEvent affecting a root key and its children', () => {
+		let testObject = new ConfigurationChangeEvent();
+
+		testObject.change(['launch', 'launch.version', 'tasks']);
+
+		assert.deepEqual(testObject.affectedKeys, ['launch.version', 'tasks']);
+		assert.ok(testObject.affectsConfiguration('launch'));
+		assert.ok(testObject.affectsConfiguration('launch.version'));
+		assert.ok(testObject.affectsConfiguration('tasks'));
+	});
+
 	test('changeEvent affecting keys for resources', () => {
 		let testObject = new ConfigurationChangeEvent();