diff --git a/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee b/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
index e3aa8d3d9..6f72cd8bc 100644
--- a/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
@@ -2014,3 +2014,9 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
         editSession.insertText("}")
         editSession.autoDecreaseIndentForRow(0)
         expect(editSession.lineForBufferRow(0)).toBe "}"
+
+      it "doesn't outdent a row that is already fully outdented", ->
+        editSession.selectAll()
+        editSession.insertText("var i;\n}")
+        editSession.autoDecreaseIndentForRow(1)
+        expect(editSession.lineForBufferRow(1)).toBe "}"
diff --git a/src/app/language-mode.coffee b/src/app/language-mode.coffee
index 220ded37a..351dd122c 100644
--- a/src/app/language-mode.coffee
+++ b/src/app/language-mode.coffee
@@ -188,13 +188,14 @@ class LanguageMode
     return unless decreaseIndentRegex.test(line)
 
     currentIndentLevel = @editSession.indentationForBufferRow(bufferRow)
+    return if currentIndentLevel is 0
     precedingRow = @buffer.previousNonBlankRow(bufferRow)
     return unless precedingRow?
     precedingLine = @buffer.lineForRow(precedingRow)
 
     desiredIndentLevel = @editSession.indentationForBufferRow(precedingRow)
     desiredIndentLevel -= 1 unless increaseIndentRegex.test(precedingLine)
-    if desiredIndentLevel < currentIndentLevel
+    if desiredIndentLevel >= 0 and desiredIndentLevel < currentIndentLevel
       @editSession.setIndentationForBufferRow(bufferRow, desiredIndentLevel)
 
   tokenizeLine: (line, stack, firstLine) ->