diff --git a/src/atom/project.coffee b/src/atom/project.coffee
index b86a33119..ff528255d 100644
--- a/src/atom/project.coffee
+++ b/src/atom/project.coffee
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class Project extends Resource
   activeResource: null
 
   responder: ->
-    @activeResource
+    @activeResource or this
 
   open: (url) ->
     if not @url