diff --git a/spec/app/root-view-spec.coffee b/spec/app/root-view-spec.coffee
index 3fe853682..1022a249f 100644
--- a/spec/app/root-view-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/root-view-spec.coffee
@@ -150,9 +150,9 @@ describe "RootView", ->
       it "renders an empty pane", ->
         viewState =
           panesViewState:
-            viewClass: "Pane",
+            deserializer: "Pane",
             wrappedView:
-              viewClass: "BogusView"
+              deserializer: "BogusView"
 
         rootView.remove()
         rootView = RootView.deserialize(viewState)
diff --git a/spec/spec-helper.coffee b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
index 321a257a3..787e6aea9 100644
--- a/spec/spec-helper.coffee
+++ b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 nakedLoad 'jasmine-jquery'
 $ = require 'jquery'
 _ = require 'underscore'
+require 'window'
 Keymap = require 'keymap'
 Config = require 'config'
 Point = require 'point'
@@ -10,7 +11,6 @@ File = require 'file'
 Editor = require 'editor'
 TokenizedBuffer = require 'tokenized-buffer'
 fs = require 'fs'
-require 'window'
 RootView = require 'root-view'
 requireStylesheet "jasmine.css"
 fixturePackagesPath = require.resolve('fixtures/packages')
diff --git a/src/app/edit-session.coffee b/src/app/edit-session.coffee
index d0a87ff26..181415a02 100644
--- a/src/app/edit-session.coffee
+++ b/src/app/edit-session.coffee
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ fs = require 'fs'
 
 module.exports =
 class EditSession
+  registerDeserializer(this)
+
   @deserialize: (state, project) ->
     if fs.exists(state.buffer)
       session = project.buildEditSessionForPath(state.buffer)
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@ class EditSession
     @off()
 
   serialize: ->
+    deserializer: 'EditSession'
     buffer: @buffer.getPath()
     scrollTop: @getScrollTop()
     scrollLeft: @getScrollLeft()
diff --git a/src/app/editor.coffee b/src/app/editor.coffee
index fddf1dc4a..cf273da6b 100644
--- a/src/app/editor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/editor.coffee
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ class Editor extends View
 
   serialize: ->
     @saveScrollPositionForActiveEditSession()
-    viewClass: "Editor"
+    deserializer: "Editor"
     editSessions: @editSessions.map (session) -> session.serialize()
     activeEditSessionIndex: @getActiveEditSessionIndex()
     isFocused: @isFocused
diff --git a/src/app/pane-grid.coffee b/src/app/pane-grid.coffee
index 9b8bda400..3d54fd64d 100644
--- a/src/app/pane-grid.coffee
+++ b/src/app/pane-grid.coffee
@@ -4,14 +4,14 @@ $ = require 'jquery'
 module.exports =
 class PaneGrid extends View
   @deserialize: ({children}) ->
-    childViews = children.map (child) -> deserializeView(child)
+    childViews = children.map (child) -> deserialize(child)
     new this(childViews)
 
   initialize: (children=[]) ->
     @append(children...)
 
   serialize: ->
-    viewClass: @className()
+    deserializer: @className()
     children: @childViewStates()
 
   childViewStates: ->
diff --git a/src/app/pane.coffee b/src/app/pane.coffee
index 490742f89..5b0e630f6 100644
--- a/src/app/pane.coffee
+++ b/src/app/pane.coffee
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ class Pane extends View
       @subview 'wrappedView', wrappedView if wrappedView
 
   @deserialize: ({wrappedView}) ->
-    new Pane(deserializeView(wrappedView))
+    new Pane(deserialize(wrappedView))
 
   serialize: ->
-    viewClass: "Pane"
+    deserializer: "Pane"
     wrappedView: @wrappedView?.serialize()
 
   adjustDimensions: -> # do nothing
diff --git a/src/app/root-view.coffee b/src/app/root-view.coffee
index 757d93e92..7af98bee5 100644
--- a/src/app/root-view.coffee
+++ b/src/app/root-view.coffee
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ PaneRow = require 'pane-row'
 
 module.exports =
 class RootView extends View
-  registerViewClasses(this, Pane, PaneRow, PaneColumn, Editor)
+  registerDeserializers(this, Pane, PaneRow, PaneColumn, Editor)
 
   @configDefaults:
     ignoredNames: [".git", ".svn", ".DS_Store"]
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class RootView extends View
     atom.atomPackageStates = packageStates ? {}
 
     rootView = new RootView(projectOrPathToOpen, suppressOpen: true)
-    rootView.setRootPane(deserializeView(panesViewState)) if panesViewState
+    rootView.setRootPane(deserialize(panesViewState)) if panesViewState
     rootView
 
   title: null
diff --git a/src/app/window.coffee b/src/app/window.coffee
index 8ed0aba32..c177dcdb1 100644
--- a/src/app/window.coffee
+++ b/src/app/window.coffee
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ require 'jquery-extensions'
 require 'underscore-extensions'
 require 'space-pen-extensions'
 
-registeredViewClasses = {}
+deserializers = {}
 
 windowAdditions =
   rootViewParentSelector: 'body'
@@ -104,15 +104,14 @@ windowAdditions =
   onerror: ->
     atom.showDevTools()
 
-  registerViewClass: (viewClass) ->
-    registerViewClasses(viewClass)
+  registerDeserializers: (args...) ->
+    registerDeserializer(arg) for arg in args
 
-  registerViewClasses: (viewClasses...) ->
-    for viewClass in viewClasses
-      registeredViewClasses[viewClass.name] = viewClass
+  registerDeserializer: (klass) ->
+    deserializers[klass.name] = klass
 
-  deserializeView: (viewState) ->
-    registeredViewClasses[viewState.viewClass]?.deserialize(viewState)
+  deserialize: (state) ->
+    deserializers[state.deserializer]?.deserialize(state)
 
   measure: (description, fn) ->
     start = new Date().getTime()