diff --git a/src/app/atom.coffee b/src/app/atom.coffee
index f23ed3dcb..3ceb77cd8 100644
--- a/src/app/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/app/atom.coffee
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ _ = require 'underscore'
 Package = require 'package'
 TextMatePackage = require 'text-mate-package'
 Theme = require 'theme'
+LoadTextMatePackagesTask = require 'load-text-mate-packages-task'
 
 messageIdCounter = 1
 originalSendMessageToBrowserProcess = atom.sendMessageToBrowserProcess
@@ -13,7 +14,15 @@ _.extend atom,
   pendingBrowserProcessCallbacks: {}
 
   loadPackages: ->
-    pack.load() for pack in @getPackages()
+    {packages, asyncTextMatePackages} = _.groupBy @getPackages(), (pack) ->
+      if pack instanceof TextMatePackage and pack.name isnt 'text.tmbundle'
+        'asyncTextMatePackages'
+      else
+        'packages'
+
+    pack.load() for pack in packages
+    if asyncTextMatePackages.length
+      new LoadTextMatePackagesTask(asyncTextMatePackages).start()
 
   getPackages: ->
     @getPackageNames().map((name) -> Package.build(name)).filter (pack) -> pack?
diff --git a/src/app/editor.coffee b/src/app/editor.coffee
index f06487f45..a40f02a18 100644
--- a/src/app/editor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/editor.coffee
@@ -402,6 +402,11 @@ class Editor extends View
       @gutter.widthChanged = (newWidth) =>
         @scrollView.css('left', newWidth + 'px')
 
+      rootView?.on 'grammars-loaded', =>
+        @reloadGrammar()
+        for session in @editSessions
+          session.reloadGrammar() unless session is @activeEditSession
+
     @scrollView.on 'scroll', =>
       if @scrollView.scrollLeft() == 0
         @gutter.removeClass('drop-shadow')
diff --git a/src/app/load-text-mate-packages-handler.coffee b/src/app/load-text-mate-packages-handler.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2e675bd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/load-text-mate-packages-handler.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+TextMatePackage = require 'text-mate-package'
+
+module.exports =
+  loadPackage: (name) ->
+    callTaskMethod('packageLoaded', new TextMatePackage(name).readGrammars())
diff --git a/src/app/load-text-mate-packages-task.coffee b/src/app/load-text-mate-packages-task.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..02bab0a86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/load-text-mate-packages-task.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Task = require 'Task'
+
+module.exports =
+class LoadTextMatePackagesTask extends Task
+
+  constructor: (@packages) ->
+    super('load-text-mate-packages-handler')
+
+  started: ->
+    @loadNextPackage()
+
+  loadNextPackage: ->
+    unless @packages.length
+      rootView.trigger 'grammars-loaded'
+      return
+
+    @package = @packages.shift()
+    @callWorkerMethod('loadPackage', @package.name)
+
+  packageLoaded: (grammars) ->
+    @package.loadGrammars(grammars)
+    @loadNextPackage()
diff --git a/src/app/text-mate-grammar.coffee b/src/app/text-mate-grammar.coffee
index bd7931aef..1c1478070 100644
--- a/src/app/text-mate-grammar.coffee
+++ b/src/app/text-mate-grammar.coffee
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@ OnigScanner = require 'onig-scanner'
 
 module.exports =
 class TextMateGrammar
-  @loadFromPath: (path) ->
-    grammar = null
+  @readFromPath: (path) ->
+    grammarContent = null
     plist.parseString fs.read(path), (e, data) ->
       throw new Error(e) if e
-      grammar = new TextMateGrammar(data[0])
-    throw new Error("Failed to load grammar at path `#{path}`") unless grammar
-    grammar
+      grammarContent = data[0]
+    throw new Error("Failed to load grammar at path `#{path}`") unless grammarContent
+    grammarContent
 
   name: null
   fileTypes: null
diff --git a/src/app/text-mate-package.coffee b/src/app/text-mate-package.coffee
index 23cc9143b..97eea6189 100644
--- a/src/app/text-mate-package.coffee
+++ b/src/app/text-mate-package.coffee
@@ -22,28 +22,41 @@ class TextMatePackage extends Package
     super
     @preferencesPath = fs.join(@path, "Preferences")
     @syntaxesPath = fs.join(@path, "Syntaxes")
+    @grammars = []
 
   load: ->
     try
-      for grammar in @getGrammars()
-        syntax.addGrammar(grammar)
-
-      for { selector, properties } in @getScopedProperties()
-        syntax.addProperties(selector, properties)
+      @loadGrammars()
     catch e
       console.warn "Failed to load package named '#{@name}'", e.stack
     this
 
-  getGrammars: ->
-    return @grammars if @grammars
+  getGrammars: -> @grammars
+
+  readGrammars: ->
+    grammars = []
+    for grammarPath in fs.list(@syntaxesPath)
+      try
+        grammars.push(TextMateGrammar.readFromPath(grammarPath))
+      catch e
+        console.warn "Failed to load grammar at path '#{grammarPath}'", e.stack
+    grammars
+
+  addGrammar: (rawGrammar) ->
+    grammar = new TextMateGrammar(rawGrammar)
+    @grammars.push(grammar)
+    syntax.addGrammar(grammar)
+
+  loadGrammars: (rawGrammars) ->
+    rawGrammars = @readGrammars() unless rawGrammars?
+
     @grammars = []
-    if fs.exists(@syntaxesPath)
-      for grammarPath in fs.list(@syntaxesPath)
-        try
-          @grammars.push TextMateGrammar.loadFromPath(grammarPath)
-        catch e
-          console.warn "Failed to load grammar at path '#{grammarPath}'", e.stack
-    @grammars
+    @addGrammar(rawGrammar) for rawGrammar in rawGrammars
+    @loadScopedProperties()
+
+  loadScopedProperties: ->
+    for { selector, properties } in @getScopedProperties()
+      syntax.addProperties(selector, properties)
 
   getScopedProperties: ->
     scopedProperties = []