diff --git a/spec/atom-environment-spec.coffee b/spec/atom-environment-spec.coffee
index 5afb5169b..7aaed602b 100644
--- a/spec/atom-environment-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/atom-environment-spec.coffee
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ describe "AtomEnvironment", ->
       atom.enablePersistence = false
 
     it "selects the state based on the current project paths", ->
+      jasmine.useRealClock()
+
       [dir1, dir2] = [temp.mkdirSync("dir1-"), temp.mkdirSync("dir2-")]
 
       loadSettings = _.extend atom.getLoadSettings(),
@@ -163,6 +165,11 @@ describe "AtomEnvironment", ->
       spyOn(atom, 'deserialize')
 
       atom.project.setPaths([dir1, dir2])
+      # State persistence will fail if other Atom instances are running
+      waitsForPromise ->
+        atom.stateStore.connect().then (isConnected) ->
+          expect(isConnected).toBe true
+
       waitsForPromise ->
         atom.saveState().then ->
           atom.loadState()
diff --git a/src/state-store.js b/src/state-store.js
index f5e687d4f..feefbbb34 100644
--- a/src/state-store.js
+++ b/src/state-store.js
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ class StateStore {
     })
   }
 
+  connect () {
+    return this.dbPromise.then(db => !!db)
+  }
+
   save (key, value) {
     return this.dbPromise.then(db => {
       if (!db) {