diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.ts
index f4a3886a2120..6095e203511a 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.ts
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ async function getVirtualEnvDirs(root: string): Promise<string[]> {
 /**
  * Returns all virtual environment locations to look for in a workspace.
  */
-function getVirtualEnvRootDirs(root: string): string[] {
-    return [path.join(path.join(root, '.pixi'), 'envs')];
+export async function getVirtualEnvRootDirs(root: string): Promise<string[]> {
+    return asyncFilter([path.join(path.join(root, '.pixi'), 'envs')], pathExists);
 }
 
 export class PixiLocator extends FSWatchingLocator {
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export class PixiLocator extends FSWatchingLocator {
 
     public constructor(private readonly root: string) {
         super(
-            async () => getVirtualEnvRootDirs(this.root),
+            () => getVirtualEnvRootDirs(this.root),
             async () => PythonEnvKind.Pixi,
             {
                 // Note detecting kind of virtual env depends on the file structure around the
diff --git a/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.unit.test.ts b/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.unit.test.ts
index b55f61c3a771..3096ab0ccc5a 100644
--- a/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.unit.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator.unit.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT License.
 
+import * as assert from 'assert';
 import * as sinon from 'sinon';
 import * as path from 'path';
-import { PixiLocator } from '../../../../../client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator';
+import {
+    PixiLocator,
+    getVirtualEnvRootDirs,
+} from '../../../../../client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/pixiLocator';
 import * as externalDependencies from '../../../../../client/pythonEnvironments/common/externalDependencies';
 import * as platformUtils from '../../../../../client/common/utils/platform';
 import { makeExecHandler, projectDirs } from '../../../common/environmentManagers/pixi.unit.test';
@@ -81,4 +85,20 @@ suite('Pixi Locator', () => {
             assertBasicEnvsEqual(actualEnvs, expectedEnvs);
         });
     });
+
+    suite('getVirtualEnvRootDirs()', () => {
+        test('returns pixi envs root dir when directory exists', async () => {
+            pathExistsStub.resolves(true);
+            const root = '/path/to/project';
+            const result = await getVirtualEnvRootDirs(root);
+            assert.deepStrictEqual(result, [path.join(root, '.pixi', 'envs')]);
+        });
+
+        test('returns empty array when .pixi/envs directory does not exist', async () => {
+            pathExistsStub.resolves(false);
+            const root = '/path/to/non-pixi-project';
+            const result = await getVirtualEnvRootDirs(root);
+            assert.deepStrictEqual(result, []);
+        });
+    });
 });