diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/common/qlpack-language.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/common/qlpack-language.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a3bc14ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/common/qlpack-language.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { load } from "js-yaml";
+import { readFile } from "fs-extra";
+import { QlPackFile } from "../packaging/qlpack-file";
+import { QueryLanguage } from "./query-language";
+
+/**
+ * @param qlpackPath The path to the `qlpack.yml` or `codeql-pack.yml` file.
+ * @return the language of the given qlpack file, or undefined if the file is
+ * not a valid qlpack file or does not contain exactly one language.
+ */
+export async function getQlPackLanguage(
+  qlpackPath: string,
+): Promise<QueryLanguage | undefined> {
+  const qlPack = load(await readFile(qlpackPath, "utf8")) as
+    | QlPackFile
+    | undefined;
+  const dependencies = qlPack?.dependencies;
+  if (!dependencies || typeof dependencies !== "object") {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const matchingLanguages = Object.values(QueryLanguage).filter(
+    (language) => `codeql/${language}-all` in dependencies,
+  );
+  if (matchingLanguages.length !== 1) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  return matchingLanguages[0];
+}
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/local-queries/skeleton-query-wizard.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/local-queries/skeleton-query-wizard.ts
index 164507177..2fef9bae5 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/local-queries/skeleton-query-wizard.ts
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/local-queries/skeleton-query-wizard.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import {
   isCodespacesTemplate,
   setQlPackLocation,
 } from "../config";
-import { lstat, pathExists, readFile } from "fs-extra";
+import { lstat, pathExists } from "fs-extra";
 import { askForLanguage } from "../codeql-cli/query-language";
 import { showInformationMessageWithAction } from "../common/vscode/dialog";
 import { redactableError } from "../common/errors";
@@ -36,8 +36,7 @@ import { App } from "../common/app";
 import { QueryTreeViewItem } from "../queries-panel/query-tree-view-item";
 import { containsPath, pathsEqual } from "../common/files";
 import { getQlPackPath } from "../common/ql";
-import { load } from "js-yaml";
-import { QlPackFile } from "../packaging/qlpack-file";
+import { getQlPackLanguage } from "../common/qlpack-language";
 
 type QueryLanguagesToDatabaseMap = Record<string, string>;
 
@@ -253,24 +252,12 @@ export class SkeletonQueryWizard {
       return undefined;
     }
 
-    const qlPack = load(await readFile(qlPackPath, "utf8")) as
-      | QlPackFile
-      | undefined;
-    const dependencies = qlPack?.dependencies;
-    if (!dependencies || typeof dependencies !== "object") {
-      return;
+    const language = await getQlPackLanguage(qlPackPath);
+    if (language) {
+      this.qlPackStoragePath = matchingQueryPackPath;
     }
 
-    const matchingLanguages = Object.values(QueryLanguage).filter(
-      (language) => `codeql/${language}-all` in dependencies,
-    );
-    if (matchingLanguages.length !== 1) {
-      return undefined;
-    }
-
-    this.qlPackStoragePath = matchingQueryPackPath;
-
-    return matchingLanguages[0];
+    return language;
   }
 
   private async chooseLanguage() {
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/queries-panel/query-pack-discovery.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/queries-panel/query-pack-discovery.ts
index 73286ba2a..b4a0953a3 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/queries-panel/query-pack-discovery.ts
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/queries-panel/query-pack-discovery.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@ import { QueryLanguage } from "../common/query-language";
 import { FALLBACK_QLPACK_FILENAME, QLPACK_FILENAMES } from "../common/ql";
 import { FilePathDiscovery } from "../common/vscode/file-path-discovery";
 import { containsPath } from "../common/files";
-import { load } from "js-yaml";
-import { readFile } from "fs-extra";
-import { QlPackFile } from "../packaging/qlpack-file";
+import { getQlPackLanguage } from "../common/qlpack-language";
 
 interface QueryPack {
   path: string;
@@ -71,32 +69,13 @@ export class QueryPackDiscovery extends FilePathDiscovery<QueryPack> {
   protected async getDataForPath(path: string): Promise<QueryPack> {
     let language: QueryLanguage | undefined;
     try {
-      language = await this.determinePackLanguage(path);
+      language = await getQlPackLanguage(path);
     } catch (e) {
       language = undefined;
     }
     return { path, language };
   }
 
-  private async determinePackLanguage(
-    path: string,
-  ): Promise<QueryLanguage | undefined> {
-    const qlPack = load(await readFile(path, "utf8")) as QlPackFile | undefined;
-    const dependencies = qlPack?.dependencies;
-    if (!dependencies || typeof dependencies !== "object") {
-      return;
-    }
-
-    const matchingLanguages = Object.values(QueryLanguage).filter(
-      (language) => `codeql/${language}-all` in dependencies,
-    );
-    if (matchingLanguages.length !== 1) {
-      return undefined;
-    }
-
-    return matchingLanguages[0];
-  }
-
   protected pathIsRelevant(path: string): boolean {
     return QLPACK_FILENAMES.includes(basename(path));
   }
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/test/unit-tests/common/qlpack-language.test.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/test/unit-tests/common/qlpack-language.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6172d35db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/test/unit-tests/common/qlpack-language.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+import { join } from "path";
+import { dirSync } from "tmp-promise";
+import { DirResult } from "tmp";
+import { outputFile } from "fs-extra";
+import { dump } from "js-yaml";
+import { QueryLanguage } from "../../../src/common/query-language";
+import { getQlPackLanguage } from "../../../src/common/qlpack-language";
+
+describe("getQlPackLanguage", () => {
+  let tmpDir: DirResult;
+  let qlpackPath: string;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    tmpDir = dirSync({
+      prefix: "queries_",
+      keep: false,
+      unsafeCleanup: true,
+    });
+
+    qlpackPath = join(tmpDir.name, "qlpack.yml");
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    tmpDir.removeCallback();
+  });
+
+  it.each(Object.values(QueryLanguage))(
+    "should find a single language %s",
+    async (language) => {
+      await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+        name: "test",
+        dependencies: {
+          [`codeql/${language}-all`]: "^0.7.0",
+          "my-custom-pack/test": "${workspace}",
+        },
+      });
+
+      const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+      expect(result).toEqual(language);
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("should find nothing when there is no dependencies key", async () => {
+    await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+      name: "test",
+    });
+
+    const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+    expect(result).toEqual(undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("should find nothing when the dependencies are empty", async () => {
+    await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+      name: "test",
+      dependencies: {},
+    });
+
+    const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+    expect(result).toEqual(undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("should find nothing when dependencies is a scalar", async () => {
+    await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+      name: "test",
+      dependencies: "codeql/java-all",
+    });
+
+    const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+    expect(result).toEqual(undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("should find nothing when dependencies is an array", async () => {
+    await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+      name: "test",
+      dependencies: ["codeql/java-all"],
+    });
+
+    const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+    expect(result).toEqual(undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("should find nothing when there are no matching dependencies", async () => {
+    await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+      name: "test",
+      dependencies: {
+        "codeql/java-queries": "*",
+        "github/my-test-query-pack": "*",
+      },
+    });
+
+    const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+    expect(result).toEqual(undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("should find nothing when there are multiple matching dependencies", async () => {
+    await writeYAML(qlpackPath, {
+      name: "test",
+      dependencies: {
+        "codeql/java-all": "*",
+        "codeql/csharp-all": "*",
+      },
+    });
+
+    const result = await getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath);
+    expect(result).toEqual(undefined);
+  });
+
+  it("should throw when the file does not exist", async () => {
+    await expect(getQlPackLanguage(qlpackPath)).rejects.toBeDefined();
+  });
+
+  it("should throw when reading a directory", async () => {
+    await expect(getQlPackLanguage(tmpDir.name)).rejects.toBeDefined();
+  });
+
+  it("should throw when the file is invalid YAML", async () => {
+    await outputFile(qlpackPath, `name: test\n  foo: bar`);
+
+    await expect(getQlPackLanguage(tmpDir.name)).rejects.toBeDefined();
+  });
+});
+
+async function writeYAML(path: string, yaml: unknown): Promise<void> {
+  await outputFile(path, dump(yaml), "utf-8");
+}