diff --git a/spec/tokenized-buffer-spec.coffee b/spec/tokenized-buffer-spec.coffee
index dd36ec316..9493271a8 100644
--- a/spec/tokenized-buffer-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/tokenized-buffer-spec.coffee
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 TokenizedBuffer = require '../src/tokenized-buffer'
 {_} = require 'atom'
 
-describe "TokenizedBuffer", ->
+fdescribe "TokenizedBuffer", ->
   [tokenizedBuffer, buffer, changeHandler] = []
 
   beforeEach ->
@@ -350,7 +350,8 @@ describe "TokenizedBuffer", ->
   describe "when the buffer contains surrogate pairs", ->
     beforeEach ->
       atom.activatePackage('language-javascript', sync: true)
-      buffer = project.buildBufferSync 'sample-with-pairs.js',  """
+      buffer = project.buildBufferSync 'sample-with-pairs.js'
+      buffer.setText """
         'abc\uD835\uDF97def'
         //\uD835\uDF97xyz
       """
@@ -389,7 +390,8 @@ describe "TokenizedBuffer", ->
       atom.activatePackage('language-ruby-on-rails', sync: true)
       atom.activatePackage('language-ruby', sync: true)
 
-      buffer = project.bufferForPathSync(null, "<div class='name'><%= User.find(2).full_name %></div>")
+      buffer = project.bufferForPathSync()
+      buffer.setText "<div class='name'><%= User.find(2).full_name %></div>"
       tokenizedBuffer = new TokenizedBuffer({buffer})
       tokenizedBuffer.setGrammar(syntax.selectGrammar('test.erb'))
       fullyTokenize(tokenizedBuffer)
diff --git a/src/project.coffee b/src/project.coffee
index 3c5456472..b11d5d937 100644
--- a/src/project.coffee
+++ b/src/project.coffee
@@ -219,13 +219,13 @@ class Project
     new Array(@buffers...)
 
   # Private: Only to be used in specs
-  bufferForPathSync: (filePath, text) ->
+  bufferForPathSync: (filePath) ->
     absoluteFilePath = @resolve(filePath)
 
     if filePath
       existingBuffer = _.find @buffers, (buffer) -> buffer.getPath() == absoluteFilePath
 
-    existingBuffer ? @buildBufferSync(absoluteFilePath, text)
+    existingBuffer ? @buildBufferSync(absoluteFilePath)
 
   # Private: Given a file path, this retrieves or creates a new {TextBuffer}.
   #
@@ -233,23 +233,22 @@ class Project
   # `text` is used as the contents of the new buffer.
   #
   # filePath - A {String} representing a path. If `null`, an "Untitled" buffer is created.
-  # text - The {String} text to use as a buffer, if the file doesn't have any contents
   #
   # Returns a promise that resolves to the {TextBuffer}.
-  bufferForPath: (filePath, text) ->
+  bufferForPath: (filePath) ->
     absoluteFilePath = @resolve(filePath)
     if absoluteFilePath
       existingBuffer = _.find @buffers, (buffer) -> buffer.getPath() == absoluteFilePath
 
-    Q(existingBuffer ? @buildBuffer(absoluteFilePath, text))
+    Q(existingBuffer ? @buildBuffer(absoluteFilePath))
 
   # Private:
   bufferForId: (id) ->
     _.find @buffers, (buffer) -> buffer.id is id
 
   # Private: DEPRECATED
-  buildBufferSync: (absoluteFilePath, initialText) ->
-    buffer = new TextBuffer({project: this, filePath: absoluteFilePath, initialText})
+  buildBufferSync: (absoluteFilePath) ->
+    buffer = new TextBuffer({project: this, filePath: absoluteFilePath})
     buffer.loadSync()
     @addBuffer(buffer)
     buffer
@@ -260,8 +259,8 @@ class Project
   # text - The {String} text to use as a buffer
   #
   # Returns a promise that resolves to the {TextBuffer}.
-  buildBuffer: (absoluteFilePath, initialText) ->
-    buffer = new TextBuffer({project: this, filePath: absoluteFilePath, initialText})
+  buildBuffer: (absoluteFilePath) ->
+    buffer = new TextBuffer({project: this, filePath: absoluteFilePath})
     buffer.load().then (buffer) =>
       @addBuffer(buffer)
       buffer
diff --git a/src/text-buffer.coffee b/src/text-buffer.coffee
index 99fa698a7..43912dd1a 100644
--- a/src/text-buffer.coffee
+++ b/src/text-buffer.coffee
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class TextBuffer
       @text = @state.get('text')
       @loadFromDisk = @state.get('isModified') == false
     else
-      {@project, filePath, initialText} = optionsOrState
+      {@project, filePath} = optionsOrState
       @text = site.createDocument(initialText ? '', shareStrings: true)
       @id = guid.create().toString()
       @state = site.createDocument
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class TextBuffer
         deserializer: @constructor.name
         version: @constructor.version
         text: @text
-      @loadFromDisk = not initialText
+      @loadFromDisk = true
 
     @loaded = false
     @subscribe @text, 'changed', @handleTextChange