diff --git a/spec/project-spec.coffee b/spec/project-spec.coffee
index 789b2dfc4..ff287c7e0 100644
--- a/spec/project-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/project-spec.coffee
@@ -353,6 +353,19 @@ describe "Project", ->
 
           expect(editor.isModified()).toBeFalsy()
 
+      it "does not replace when the path is not specified", ->
+        editor = atom.project.openSync('sample.js')
+        editor = atom.project.openSync('sample-with-comments.js')
+
+        results = []
+        waitsForPromise ->
+          atom.project.replace /items/gi, 'items', [commentFilePath], (result) ->
+            results.push(result)
+
+        runs ->
+          expect(results).toHaveLength 1
+          expect(results[0].filePath).toBe commentFilePath
+
       it "does NOT save when modified", ->
         editor = atom.project.openSync('sample.js')
         editor.buffer.change([[0,0],[0,0]], 'omg')
diff --git a/src/project.coffee b/src/project.coffee
index e73f68f57..c99ff2e15 100644
--- a/src/project.coffee
+++ b/src/project.coffee
@@ -333,6 +333,7 @@ class Project extends telepath.Model
       task.on 'replace:path-replaced', iterator
 
     for buffer in @buffers.getValues()
+      continue unless buffer.getPath() in filePaths
       replacements = buffer.replace(regex, replacementText, iterator)
       iterator({filePath: buffer.getPath(), replacements}) if replacements