diff --git a/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee b/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee
index 706865e7e..32219572e 100644
--- a/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ describe "RootView", ->
         expect(rootView.editor.buffer.url).toBe url
 
     describe "when called with a url that references a directory", ->
-      it "creates a project for the directory and opens and empty buffer", ->
-        url = require.resolve 'fixtures/dir'
+      it "creates a project for the directory and opens an empty buffer", ->
+        url = require.resolve 'fixtures/dir/'
         rootView = RootView.build {url}
 
         expect(rootView.project.url).toBe url
diff --git a/src/atom/root-view.coffee b/src/atom/root-view.coffee
index e198fd174..e56fc7c38 100644
--- a/src/atom/root-view.coffee
+++ b/src/atom/root-view.coffee
@@ -21,14 +21,9 @@ class RootView extends Template
       @bindKey 'meta+w', => window.close()
       @bindKey 'meta+t', => @toggleFileFinder()
 
-      if not url
-        # not sure what to do
-      else if fs.isDirectory url
-        @project = new Project url
-        @editor.open()
-      else
+      if url
         @project = new Project(fs.directory(url))
-        @editor.open url
+        @editor.open(url) if fs.isFile(url)
 
     addPane: (view) ->
       pane = $('<div class="pane">')