diff --git a/src/vs/platform/telemetry/common/telemetry.ts b/src/vs/platform/telemetry/common/telemetry.ts
index 67799a3d7d02855c6bd9c6da3929c052c82be3cc..aa1d17fc293ae171f3ac8f37ef659af6031522ea 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/telemetry/common/telemetry.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/telemetry/common/telemetry.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 import {TPromise} from 'vs/base/common/winjs.base';
+import {IConfigurationService} from 'vs/platform/configuration/common/configuration';
 import {createDecorator} from 'vs/platform/instantiation/common/instantiation';
 import {IStorageService} from 'vs/platform/storage/common/storage';
 
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ export const NullTelemetryService = {
 	}
 };
 
-export function loadExperiments(storageService: IStorageService): ITelemetryExperiments {
+export function loadExperiments(storageService: IStorageService, configurationService: IConfigurationService): ITelemetryExperiments {
 	const key = 'experiments.randomness';
 	let valueString = storageService.get(key);
 	if (!valueString) {
@@ -75,11 +76,22 @@ export function loadExperiments(storageService: IStorageService): ITelemetryExpe
 	const [random1, showDefaultViewlet] = splitRandom(random0);
 	const [random2, showCommandsWatermark] = splitRandom(random1);
 	const [, openUntitledFile] = splitRandom(random2);
-	return {
+	return applyOverrides(configurationService, {
 		showDefaultViewlet,
 		showCommandsWatermark,
 		openUntitledFile
-	};
+	});
+}
+
+export function applyOverrides(configurationService: IConfigurationService, experiments: ITelemetryExperiments): ITelemetryExperiments {
+	const config: any = configurationService.getConfiguration('telemetry');
+	const experimentsConfig = config && config.experiments || {};
+	Object.keys(experiments).forEach(key => {
+		if (key in experimentsConfig) {
+			experiments[key] = experimentsConfig[key];
+		}
+	});
+	return experiments;
 }
 
 function splitRandom(random: number): [number, boolean] {
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/shell.ts b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/shell.ts
index 125819187f5a6fde784f6efde3ab0e3a15a739e8..43efe25608d3af98937eca769c638511164ef201 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/shell.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/electron-browser/shell.ts
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ export class WorkbenchShell {
 				appender: new TelemetryAppenderClient(channel),
 				commonProperties: resolveWorkbenchCommonProperties(this.storageService, commit, version),
 				piiPaths: [this.environmentService.appRoot, this.environmentService.extensionsPath],
-				experiments: loadExperiments(this.storageService)
+				experiments: loadExperiments(this.storageService, this.configurationService)
 			};
 
 			const telemetryService = instantiationService.createInstance(TelemetryService, config);
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ export class WorkbenchShell {
 
 			disposables.add(telemetryService, errorTelemetry, listener, idleMonitor);
 		} else {
-			NullTelemetryService._experiments = loadExperiments(this.storageService);
+			NullTelemetryService._experiments = loadExperiments(this.storageService, this.configurationService);
 			this.telemetryService = NullTelemetryService;
 		}