diff --git a/crates/ruff_notebook/resources/test/fixtures/jupyter/kernelspec_language.ipynb b/crates/ruff_notebook/resources/test/fixtures/jupyter/kernelspec_language.ipynb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..80a5514e1c409
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/ruff_notebook/resources/test/fixtures/jupyter/kernelspec_language.ipynb
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+{
+ "cells": [
+  {
+   "cell_type": "markdown",
+   "metadata": {},
+   "source": [
+    "# Kernel spec language\n",
+    "\n",
+    "This is a test notebook for validating the fallback logic of `is_python_notebook` to check `kernelspec.language` if `language_info` is absent.\n"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {
+    "vscode": {
+     "languageId": "javascript"
+    }
+   },
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "function add(x, y) {\n",
+    "    return x + y;\n",
+    "}"
+   ]
+  },
+  {
+   "cell_type": "code",
+   "execution_count": null,
+   "metadata": {},
+   "outputs": [],
+   "source": [
+    "import os\n",
+    "\n",
+    "print(\"hello world\")"
+   ]
+  }
+ ],
+ "metadata": {
+  "kernelspec": {
+   "display_name": "Python 3",
+   "language": "python",
+   "name": "python"
+  }
+ },
+ "nbformat": 4,
+ "nbformat_minor": 2
+}
diff --git a/crates/ruff_notebook/src/notebook.rs b/crates/ruff_notebook/src/notebook.rs
index b2be9ebe6ae50..9098227f7c2d4 100644
--- a/crates/ruff_notebook/src/notebook.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff_notebook/src/notebook.rs
@@ -408,13 +408,18 @@ impl Notebook {
         &self.raw.metadata
     }
 
-    /// Return `true` if the notebook is a Python notebook, `false` otherwise.
+    /// Check if it's a Python notebook.
+    ///
+    /// This is determined by checking the `language_info` or `kernelspec` in the notebook
+    /// metadata. If neither is present, it's assumed to be a Python notebook.
     pub fn is_python_notebook(&self) -> bool {
-        self.raw
-            .metadata
-            .language_info
-            .as_ref()
-            .map_or(true, |language| language.name == "python")
+        if let Some(language_info) = self.raw.metadata.language_info.as_ref() {
+            return language_info.name == "python";
+        }
+        if let Some(kernel_spec) = self.raw.metadata.kernelspec.as_ref() {
+            return kernel_spec.language.as_deref() == Some("python");
+        }
+        true
     }
 
     /// Write the notebook back to the given [`Write`] implementer.
@@ -456,18 +461,12 @@ mod tests {
         Path::new("./resources/test/fixtures/jupyter").join(path)
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn test_python() -> Result<(), NotebookError> {
-        let notebook = Notebook::from_path(&notebook_path("valid.ipynb"))?;
-        assert!(notebook.is_python_notebook());
-        Ok(())
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn test_r() -> Result<(), NotebookError> {
-        let notebook = Notebook::from_path(&notebook_path("R.ipynb"))?;
-        assert!(!notebook.is_python_notebook());
-        Ok(())
+    #[test_case("valid.ipynb", true)]
+    #[test_case("R.ipynb", false)]
+    #[test_case("kernelspec_language.ipynb", true)]
+    fn is_python_notebook(filename: &str, expected: bool) {
+        let notebook = Notebook::from_path(&notebook_path(filename)).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(notebook.is_python_notebook(), expected);
     }
 
     #[test]
@@ -597,9 +596,10 @@ print("after empty cells")
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn round_trip() {
-        let path = notebook_path("vscode_language_id.ipynb");
+    #[test_case("vscode_language_id.ipynb")]
+    #[test_case("kernelspec_language.ipynb")]
+    fn round_trip(filename: &str) {
+        let path = notebook_path(filename);
         let expected = std::fs::read_to_string(&path).unwrap();
         let actual = super::round_trip(&path).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(actual, expected);
diff --git a/crates/ruff_notebook/src/schema.rs b/crates/ruff_notebook/src/schema.rs
index a33d041055dfc..d48b7483fedf3 100644
--- a/crates/ruff_notebook/src/schema.rs
+++ b/crates/ruff_notebook/src/schema.rs
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ pub struct CellMetadata {
     /// preferred language.
     /// <https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/e6c009a3d4ee60f352212b978934f52c4689fbd9/extensions/ipynb/src/serializers.ts#L117-L122>
     pub vscode: Option<CodeCellMetadataVSCode>,
-    /// Catch-all for metadata that isn't required by Ruff.
+    /// For additional properties that isn't required by Ruff.
     #[serde(flatten)]
     pub extra: HashMap<String, Value>,
 }
@@ -190,8 +190,8 @@ pub struct RawNotebookMetadata {
     /// The author(s) of the notebook document
     pub authors: Option<Value>,
     /// Kernel information.
-    pub kernelspec: Option<Value>,
-    /// Kernel information.
+    pub kernelspec: Option<Kernelspec>,
+    /// Language information.
     pub language_info: Option<LanguageInfo>,
     /// Original notebook format (major number) before converting the notebook between versions.
     /// This should never be written to a file.
@@ -206,6 +206,23 @@ pub struct RawNotebookMetadata {
 /// Kernel information.
 #[skip_serializing_none]
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
+pub struct Kernelspec {
+    /// The language name. This isn't mentioned in the spec but is populated by various tools and
+    /// can be used as a fallback if [`language_info`] is missing.
+    ///
+    /// This is also used by VS Code to determine the preferred language of the notebook:
+    /// <https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/1c31e758985efe11bc0453a45ea0bb6887e670a4/extensions/ipynb/src/deserializers.ts#L20-L22>.
+    ///
+    /// [`language_info`]: RawNotebookMetadata::language_info
+    pub language: Option<String>,
+    /// For additional properties that isn't required by Ruff.
+    #[serde(flatten)]
+    pub extra: HashMap<String, Value>,
+}
+
+/// Language information.
+#[skip_serializing_none]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq)]
 pub struct LanguageInfo {
     /// The codemirror mode to use for code in this language.
     pub codemirror_mode: Option<Value>,