diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 37abf3a07..8c48bcfd3 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
     "season": "0.14.0",
     "semver": "1.1.4",
     "space-pen": "2.0.1",
-    "telepath": "0.66.0",
+    "telepath": "0.68.0",
     "temp": "0.5.0",
     "underscore-plus": "0.5.0"
   },
diff --git a/spec/atom-spec.coffee b/spec/atom-spec.coffee
index b42fb7911..1615ce689 100644
--- a/spec/atom-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/atom-spec.coffee
@@ -438,3 +438,11 @@ describe "the `atom` global", ->
           expect(atom.config.get('core.themes')).not.toContain packageName
           expect(atom.config.get('core.themes')).not.toContain packageName
           expect(atom.config.get('core.disabledPackages')).not.toContain packageName
+
+  describe ".isReleasedVersion()", ->
+    it "returns false if the version is a SHA and true otherwise", ->
+      version = '0.1.0'
+      spyOn(atom, 'getVersion').andCallFake -> version
+      expect(atom.isReleasedVersion()).toBe true
+      version = '36b5518'
+      expect(atom.isReleasedVersion()).toBe false
diff --git a/src/atom.coffee b/src/atom.coffee
index 16b073194..9a586434c 100644
--- a/src/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/atom.coffee
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ dialog = remote.require 'dialog'
 app = remote.require 'app'
 
 _ = require 'underscore-plus'
-{Document} = require 'telepath'
+telepath = require 'telepath'
+{Document} = telepath
 fs = require 'fs-plus'
 {Subscriber} = require 'emissary'
 
@@ -53,6 +54,8 @@ class Atom
     {devMode, resourcePath} = atom.getLoadSettings()
     configDirPath = @getConfigDirPath()
 
+    telepath.devMode = not @isReleasedVersion()
+
     Config = require './config'
     Keymap = require './keymap'
     PackageManager = require './package-manager'
@@ -361,6 +364,10 @@ class Atom
   getVersion: ->
     app.getVersion()
 
+  # Public: Determine whether the current version is an official release.
+  isReleasedVersion: ->
+    not /\w{7}/.test(@getVersion()) # Check if the release is a 7-character SHA prefix
+
   getGitHubAuthTokenName: ->
     'Atom GitHub API Token'