diff --git a/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee b/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee
index 44d901d13..12cfa39d1 100644
--- a/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/atom/root-view-spec.coffee
@@ -4,28 +4,23 @@ RootView = require 'root-view'
 
 describe "RootView", ->
   rootView = null
-  beforeEach -> rootView = RootView.build()
+  url = null
+
+  beforeEach ->
+    url = require.resolve 'fixtures/dir/a'
+    rootView = RootView.build {url}
 
   describe "initialize", ->
     describe "when called with a url", ->
       describe "when the url references a file", ->
-        url = null
-        beforeEach ->
-          url = require.resolve 'fixtures/sample.txt'
-          rootView = RootView.build {url}
-
-        it "creates a project for the file's parent directory", ->
+        it "creates a project for the file's parent directory and opens it in the editor", ->
           expect(rootView.project.url).toBe fs.directory(url)
-
-        it "opens the file in the editor", ->
           expect(rootView.editor.buffer.url).toBe url
 
     describe "when not called with a url", ->
       it "opens an empty buffer", ->
-        url = null
-        rootView = RootView.build {url}
-
-        expect(rootView.editor.buffer.url).toBeNull()
+        rootView = RootView.build()
+        expect(rootView.editor.buffer.url).toBeUndefined()
 
   describe ".addPane(view)", ->
     it "adds the given view to the rootView (at the bottom by default)", ->
@@ -33,34 +28,41 @@ describe "RootView", ->
       rootView.addPane $('<div id="foo">')
       expect(rootView.vertical.children().length).toBe 2
 
-  describe "toggleFileFinder", ->
-    describe "when the editor has a url", ->
-      baseUrl = require.resolve('fixtures/dir/a')
-
-      beforeEach ->
-        rootView.editor.open baseUrl
-
+  describe ".toggleFileFinder()", ->
+    describe "when there is a project", ->
       it "shows the FileFinder when it is not on screen and hides it when it is", ->
-        expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).not.toExist()
-        rootView.toggleFileFinder()
-        expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).toExist()
-        rootView.toggleFileFinder()
-        expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).not.toExist()
+        runs ->
+          expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).not.toExist()
+
+        waitsForPromise ->
+          rootView.toggleFileFinder()
+
+        runs ->
+          expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).toExist()
+          rootView.toggleFileFinder()
+          expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).not.toExist()
 
       it "shows all urls for the current project", ->
-        rootView.toggleFileFinder()
-        expect(rootView.fileFinder.urlList.children('li').length).toBe 3
+        waitsForPromise ->
+          rootView.toggleFileFinder()
+        runs ->
+          expect(rootView.fileFinder.urlList.children('li').length).toBe 3
 
-      it "remove common path prefix from files", ->
-        rootView.toggleFileFinder()
-        commonPathPattern = new RegExp("^" + fs.directory(baseUrl))
-        expect(rootView.fileFinder.urlList.children('li:first').text()).not.toMatch commonPathPattern
+      it "removes common path prefix from files", ->
+        waitsForPromise ->
+          rootView.toggleFileFinder()
+
+        runs ->
+          commonPathPattern = new RegExp("^" + fs.directory(url))
+          expect(rootView.fileFinder.urlList.children('li:first').text()).not.toMatch commonPathPattern
+
+    describe "when there is no project", ->
+      beforeEach ->
+        rootView = RootView.build()
 
-    describe "when the editor has no url", ->
       it "does not open the FileFinder", ->
         expect(rootView.editor.buffer.url).toBeUndefined()
         expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).not.toExist()
         rootView.toggleFileFinder()
         expect(rootView.find('.file-finder')).not.toExist()
 
-
diff --git a/spec/spec-helper.coffee b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
index 388107963..4d2fb0d41 100644
--- a/spec/spec-helper.coffee
+++ b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
@@ -15,3 +15,7 @@ window.keydown = (pattern) ->
 window.createKeyEvent = (pattern) ->
   $.Event "keydown", atom.keyBinder.parseKeyPattern(pattern)
 
+window.waitsForPromise = (fn) ->
+  window.waitsFor (moveOn) ->
+    fn().done(moveOn)
+
diff --git a/src/atom/root-view.coffee b/src/atom/root-view.coffee
index 4ff40f9cf..14cb7add1 100644
--- a/src/atom/root-view.coffee
+++ b/src/atom/root-view.coffee
@@ -37,9 +37,10 @@ class RootView extends Template
         @fileFinder = null
       else
         directory = fs.directory @editor.buffer.url
-        urls = (url for url in fs.list(directory, true) when fs.isFile url)
-        urls = (url.replace(directory, "") for url in urls)
-        @fileFinder = FileFinder.build({urls})
-        @addPane(@fileFinder)
-        @fileFinder.input.focus()
+        return fs.async.list(directory, true).done (urls) =>
+          urls = (url for url in urls when fs.isFile url)
+          urls = (url.replace(directory, "") for url in urls)
+          @fileFinder = FileFinder.build({urls})
+          @addPane(@fileFinder)
+          @fileFinder.input.focus()