diff --git a/gopls/internal/regtest/workspace_test.go b/gopls/internal/regtest/workspace_test.go
index 8629917df6..72c3ec1c61 100644
--- a/gopls/internal/regtest/workspace_test.go
+++ b/gopls/internal/regtest/workspace_test.go
@@ -358,3 +358,73 @@ func Hello() int {
 		)
 	})
 }
+
+func TestUseGoplsMod(t *testing.T) {
+	const multiModule = `
+-- moda/a/go.mod --
+module a.com
+
+require b.com v1.2.3
+
+-- moda/a/a.go --
+package a
+
+import (
+	"b.com/b"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	var x int
+	_ = b.Hello()
+}
+-- modb/go.mod --
+module b.com
+
+-- modb/b/b.go --
+package b
+
+func Hello() int {
+	var x int
+}
+-- gopls.mod --
+module gopls-workspace
+
+require (
+	a.com v0.0.0-goplsworkspace
+	b.com v1.2.3
+)
+
+replace a.com => $SANDBOX_WORKDIR/moda/a
+`
+	withOptions(
+		WithProxyFiles(workspaceModuleProxy),
+	).run(t, multiModule, func(t *testing.T, env *Env) {
+		env.Await(InitialWorkspaceLoad)
+		env.OpenFile("moda/a/a.go")
+		original, _ := env.GoToDefinition("moda/a/a.go", env.RegexpSearch("moda/a/a.go", "Hello"))
+		if want := "b.com@v1.2.3/b/b.go"; !strings.HasSuffix(original, want) {
+			t.Errorf("expected %s, got %v", want, original)
+		}
+		workdir := env.Sandbox.Workdir.RootURI().SpanURI().Filename()
+		env.WriteWorkspaceFile("gopls.mod", fmt.Sprintf(`module gopls-workspace
+
+require (
+	a.com v0.0.0-goplsworkspace
+	b.com v0.0.0-goplsworkspace
+)
+
+replace a.com => %s/moda/a
+replace b.com => %s/modb
+`, workdir, workdir))
+		env.Await(
+			OnceMet(
+				CompletedWork(lsp.DiagnosticWorkTitle(lsp.FromDidChangeWatchedFiles), 1),
+				env.DiagnosticAtRegexp("modb/b/b.go", "x"),
+			),
+		)
+		newLocation, _ := env.GoToDefinition("moda/a/a.go", env.RegexpSearch("moda/a/a.go", "Hello"))
+		if want := "modb/b/b.go"; !strings.HasSuffix(newLocation, want) {
+			t.Errorf("expected %s, got %v", want, newLocation)
+		}
+	})
+}
diff --git a/internal/lsp/cache/load.go b/internal/lsp/cache/load.go
index 86ba0f04b9..c80cd4cb86 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/cache/load.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/cache/load.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	errors "golang.org/x/xerrors"
 )
 
+// metadata holds package metadata extracted from a call to packages.Load.
 type metadata struct {
 	id              packageID
 	pkgPath         packagePath
@@ -40,6 +41,8 @@ type metadata struct {
 	config *packages.Config
 }
 
+// load calls packages.Load for the given scopes, updating package metadata,
+// import graph, and mapped files with the result.
 func (s *snapshot) load(ctx context.Context, scopes ...interface{}) error {
 	var query []string
 	var containsDir bool // for logging
@@ -234,6 +237,9 @@ func (s *snapshot) tempWorkspaceModule(ctx context.Context) (_ span.URI, cleanup
 	return span.URIFromPath(filepath.Dir(filename)), cleanup, nil
 }
 
+// setMetadata extracts metadata from pkg and records it in s. It
+// recurses through pkg.Imports to ensure that metadata exists for all
+// dependencies.
 func (s *snapshot) setMetadata(ctx context.Context, pkgPath packagePath, pkg *packages.Package, cfg *packages.Config, seen map[packageID]struct{}) (*metadata, error) {
 	id := packageID(pkg.ID)
 	if _, ok := seen[id]; ok {
@@ -262,6 +268,7 @@ func (s *snapshot) setMetadata(ctx context.Context, pkgPath packagePath, pkg *pa
 		s.addID(uri, m.id)
 	}
 
+	// TODO(rstambler): is this still necessary?
 	copied := map[packageID]struct{}{
 		id: {},
 	}
diff --git a/internal/lsp/cache/snapshot.go b/internal/lsp/cache/snapshot.go
index 368be08e59..5cc18bc2a2 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/cache/snapshot.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/cache/snapshot.go
@@ -733,8 +733,11 @@ func (s *snapshot) FindFile(uri span.URI) source.VersionedFileHandle {
 	return s.files[f.URI()]
 }
 
-// GetFile returns a File for the given URI. It will always succeed because it
-// adds the file to the managed set if needed.
+// GetFile returns a File for the given URI. If the file is unknown it is added
+// to the managed set.
+//
+// GetFile succeeds even if the file does not exist. A non-nil error return
+// indicates some type of internal error, for example if ctx is cancelled.
 func (s *snapshot) GetFile(ctx context.Context, uri span.URI) (source.VersionedFileHandle, error) {
 	f, err := s.view.getFile(uri)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1426,6 +1429,25 @@ func (s *snapshot) getWorkspaceModuleHandle(ctx context.Context) (*workspaceModu
 		}
 		fhs = append(fhs, fh)
 	}
+	goplsModURI := span.URIFromPath(filepath.Join(s.view.Folder().Filename(), "gopls.mod"))
+	goplsModFH, err := s.GetFile(ctx, goplsModURI)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	_, err = goplsModFH.Read()
+	switch {
+	case err == nil:
+		// We have a gopls.mod. Our handle only depends on it.
+		fhs = []source.FileHandle{goplsModFH}
+	case os.IsNotExist(err):
+		// No gopls.mod, so we must build the workspace mod file automatically.
+		// Defensively ensure that the goplsModFH is nil as this controls automatic
+		// building of the workspace mod file.
+		goplsModFH = nil
+	default:
+		return nil, errors.Errorf("error getting gopls.mod: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	sort.Slice(fhs, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return fhs[i].URI() < fhs[j].URI()
 	})
@@ -1435,6 +1457,13 @@ func (s *snapshot) getWorkspaceModuleHandle(ctx context.Context) (*workspaceModu
 	}
 	key := workspaceModuleKey(hashContents([]byte(k)))
 	h := s.generation.Bind(key, func(ctx context.Context, arg memoize.Arg) interface{} {
+		if goplsModFH != nil {
+			parsed, err := s.ParseMod(ctx, goplsModFH)
+			if err != nil {
+				return &workspaceModuleData{err: err}
+			}
+			return &workspaceModuleData{file: parsed.File}
+		}
 		s := arg.(*snapshot)
 		data := &workspaceModuleData{}
 		data.file, data.err = s.BuildWorkspaceModFile(ctx)
@@ -1450,7 +1479,7 @@ func (s *snapshot) getWorkspaceModuleHandle(ctx context.Context) (*workspaceModu
 }
 
 // BuildWorkspaceModFile generates a workspace module given the modules in the
-// the workspace.
+// the workspace. It does not read gopls.mod.
 func (s *snapshot) BuildWorkspaceModFile(ctx context.Context) (*modfile.File, error) {
 	file := &modfile.File{}
 	file.AddModuleStmt("gopls-workspace")
diff --git a/internal/lsp/cache/view.go b/internal/lsp/cache/view.go
index a8f3b07d7b..abf6f4c012 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/cache/view.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/cache/view.go
@@ -314,11 +314,8 @@ func minorOptionsChange(a, b *source.Options) bool {
 	copy(bBuildFlags, b.BuildFlags)
 	sort.Strings(aBuildFlags)
 	sort.Strings(bBuildFlags)
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(aBuildFlags, bBuildFlags) {
-		return false
-	}
 	// the rest of the options are benign
-	return true
+	return reflect.DeepEqual(aBuildFlags, bBuildFlags)
 }
 
 func (v *View) SetOptions(ctx context.Context, options *source.Options) (source.View, error) {
diff --git a/internal/lsp/source/view.go b/internal/lsp/source/view.go
index c4731fc3ef..f098921b99 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/source/view.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/source/view.go
@@ -407,9 +407,8 @@ type FileHandle interface {
 	URI() span.URI
 	Kind() FileKind
 
-	// Identity returns a FileIdentity for the file, even if there was an error
-	// reading it.
-	// It is a fatal error to call Identity on a file that has not yet been read.
+	// FileIdentity returns a FileIdentity for the file, even if there was an
+	// error reading it.
 	FileIdentity() FileIdentity
 	// Read reads the contents of a file.
 	// If the file is not available, returns a nil slice and an error.
diff --git a/internal/lsp/text_synchronization.go b/internal/lsp/text_synchronization.go
index 2b9a77ada2..4606e258cb 100644
--- a/internal/lsp/text_synchronization.go
+++ b/internal/lsp/text_synchronization.go
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ func (s *Server) didModifyFiles(ctx context.Context, modifications []source.File
 		for _, s := range snapshots {
 			if s.View() == view {
 				if snapshot != nil {
-					return errors.Errorf("duplicate snapshots for the same view")
+					return errors.New("duplicate snapshots for the same view")
 				}
 				snapshot = s
 			}