diff --git a/spec/integration/startup-spec.coffee b/spec/integration/startup-spec.coffee
index ae0001814..c2b1b960c 100644
--- a/spec/integration/startup-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/integration/startup-spec.coffee
@@ -121,3 +121,24 @@ describe "Starting Atom", ->
                 projectPaths.push(value[0])
               .then ->
                 expect(projectPaths.sort()).toEqual([tempDirPath, otherTempDirPath].sort())
+
+    it "opens the path in the current window if it doesn't have a project path yet", ->
+      runAtom [], {ATOM_HOME: AtomHome}, (client) ->
+        client
+          .waitForExist("atom-workspace")
+          .startAnotherAtom([tempDirPath], ATOM_HOME: AtomHome)
+          .waitUntil((->
+            @title()
+              .then(({value}) -> value.indexOf(path.basename(tempDirPath)) >= 0)), 5000)
+          .waitForWindowCount(1, 5000)
+
+    it "always opens with a single untitled buffer when launched w/ no path", ->
+      runAtom [], {ATOM_HOME: AtomHome}, (client) ->
+        client
+          .waitForExist("atom-workspace")
+          .waitForPaneItemCount(1, 5000)
+
+      runAtom [], {ATOM_HOME: AtomHome}, (client) ->
+        client
+          .waitForExist("atom-workspace")
+          .waitForPaneItemCount(1, 5000)
diff --git a/src/atom.coffee b/src/atom.coffee
index 723d235e5..385180dfd 100644
--- a/src/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/atom.coffee
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class Atom extends Model
         filename = 'spec'
       when 'editor'
         {initialPaths} = @getLoadSettings()
-        if initialPaths
+        if initialPaths?.length > 0
           sha1 = crypto.createHash('sha1').update(initialPaths.join("\n")).digest('hex')
           filename = "editor-#{sha1}"
 
diff --git a/src/browser/atom-application.coffee b/src/browser/atom-application.coffee
index a3326690b..32e8ca293 100644
--- a/src/browser/atom-application.coffee
+++ b/src/browser/atom-application.coffee
@@ -360,8 +360,13 @@ class AtomApplication
       existingWindow = @windowForPaths(pathsToOpen, devMode)
 
       # Default to using the specified window or the last focused window
+      currentWindow = window ? @lastFocusedWindow
+
       if pathsToOpen.every((pathToOpen) -> fs.statSyncNoException(pathToOpen).isFile?())
-        existingWindow ?= window ? @lastFocusedWindow
+        existingWindow ?= currentWindow
+
+      unless currentWindow?.projectPaths?.length > 0
+        existingWindow ?= currentWindow
 
     if existingWindow?
       openedWindow = existingWindow
diff --git a/src/browser/atom-window.coffee b/src/browser/atom-window.coffee
index 19c74d943..77888fed4 100644
--- a/src/browser/atom-window.coffee
+++ b/src/browser/atom-window.coffee
@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ class AtomWindow
   isSpec: null
 
   constructor: (settings={}) ->
-    {@resourcePath, pathToOpen, @locationsToOpen, @isSpec, @exitWhenDone, @safeMode, @devMode} = settings
-    @locationsToOpen ?= [{pathToOpen}] if pathToOpen
+    {@resourcePath, pathToOpen, locationsToOpen, @isSpec, @exitWhenDone, @safeMode, @devMode} = settings
+    locationsToOpen ?= [{pathToOpen}] if pathToOpen
+    locationsToOpen ?= []
 
     # Normalize to make sure drive letter case is consistent on Windows
     @resourcePath = path.normalize(@resourcePath) if @resourcePath
@@ -52,11 +53,13 @@ class AtomWindow
       @constructor.includeShellLoadTime = false
       loadSettings.shellLoadTime ?= Date.now() - global.shellStartTime
 
-    loadSettings.initialPaths = for {pathToOpen} in (@locationsToOpen ? [])
-      if fs.statSyncNoException(pathToOpen).isFile?()
-        path.dirname(pathToOpen)
-      else
-        pathToOpen
+    loadSettings.initialPaths =
+      for {pathToOpen} in locationsToOpen when pathToOpen
+        if fs.statSyncNoException(pathToOpen).isFile?()
+          path.dirname(pathToOpen)
+        else
+          pathToOpen
+
     loadSettings.initialPaths.sort()
     @projectPaths = loadSettings.initialPaths
 
@@ -70,7 +73,7 @@ class AtomWindow
     @browserWindow.loadUrl @getUrl(loadSettings)
     @browserWindow.focusOnWebView() if @isSpec
 
-    @openLocations(@locationsToOpen) unless @isSpecWindow()
+    @openLocations(locationsToOpen) unless @isSpecWindow()
 
   getUrl: (loadSettingsObj) ->
     # Ignore the windowState when passing loadSettings via URL, since it could