diff --git a/src/vs/code/node/cli.ts b/src/vs/code/node/cli.ts
index 8e29f4924766bc..5f50659ff46c29 100644
--- a/src/vs/code/node/cli.ts
+++ b/src/vs/code/node/cli.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 import { ChildProcess, spawn, SpawnOptions, StdioOptions } from 'child_process';
-import { chmodSync, existsSync, readFileSync, statSync, truncateSync, unlinkSync } from 'fs';
+import { chmodSync, existsSync, readFileSync, statSync, truncateSync, unlinkSync, promises } from 'fs';
 import { homedir, tmpdir } from 'os';
 import type { ProfilingSession, Target } from 'v8-inspect-profiler';
 import { Event } from '../../base/common/event.js';
@@ -499,8 +499,26 @@ export async function main(argv: string[]): Promise<void> {
 			//    This way, Mac does not automatically try to foreground the new instance, which causes
 			//    focusing issues when the new instance only sends data to a previous instance and then closes.
 			const spawnArgs = ['-n', '-g'];
-			// -a opens the given application.
-			spawnArgs.push('-a', process.execPath); // -a: opens a specific application
+
+			// Figure out the app to launch: with --sessions we try to launch the embedded app
+			let appToLaunch = process.execPath;
+			if (args.sessions) {
+				// process.execPath is e.g. /Applications/Code.app/Contents/MacOS/Electron
+				// Embedded app is at /Applications/Code.app/Contents/Applications/<EmbeddedApp>.app
+				const contentsPath = dirname(dirname(process.execPath));
+				const applicationsPath = join(contentsPath, 'Applications');
+				try {
+					const files = await promises.readdir(applicationsPath);
+					const embeddedApp = files.find(file => file.endsWith('.app'));
+					if (embeddedApp) {
+						appToLaunch = join(applicationsPath, embeddedApp);
+						argv = argv.filter(arg => arg !== '--sessions');
+					}
+				} catch (error) {
+					/* may not exist on disk */
+				}
+			}
+			spawnArgs.push('-a', appToLaunch); // -a opens the given application.
 
 			if (args.verbose || args.status) {
 				spawnArgs.push('--wait-apps'); // `open --wait-apps`: blocks until the launched app is closed (even if they were already running)