diff --git a/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee b/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
index b892f59eb..699492ecc 100644
--- a/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
@@ -96,23 +96,29 @@ describe "TextEditor", ->
 
   describe ".update()", ->
     it "updates the editor with the supplied config parameters", ->
+      element = editor.element # force element initialization
       atom.config.set('editor.showInvisibles', true)
       editor.onDidChange(changeSpy = jasmine.createSpy('onDidChange'))
-      editor.update({
+      updatePromise = editor.update({
         tabLength: 6, softTabs: false, softWrapped: true, editorWidthInChars: 40,
         ignoreInvisibles: true, mini: false, lineNumberGutterVisible: false, scrollPastEnd: true,
         autoHeight: false
       })
-      expect(changeSpy.callCount).toBe(1)
-      expect(editor.getTabLength()).toBe(6)
-      expect(editor.getSoftTabs()).toBe(false)
-      expect(editor.isSoftWrapped()).toBe(true)
-      expect(editor.getEditorWidthInChars()).toBe(40)
-      expect(editor.getInvisibles()).toEqual({})
-      expect(editor.isMini()).toBe(false)
-      expect(editor.isLineNumberGutterVisible()).toBe(false)
-      expect(editor.getScrollPastEnd()).toBe(true)
-      expect(editor.getAutoHeight()).toBe(false)
+
+      waitsForPromise ->
+        updatePromise
+
+      runs ->
+        expect(changeSpy.callCount).toBe(1)
+        expect(editor.getTabLength()).toBe(6)
+        expect(editor.getSoftTabs()).toBe(false)
+        expect(editor.isSoftWrapped()).toBe(true)
+        expect(editor.getEditorWidthInChars()).toBe(40)
+        expect(editor.getInvisibles()).toEqual({})
+        expect(editor.isMini()).toBe(false)
+        expect(editor.isLineNumberGutterVisible()).toBe(false)
+        expect(editor.getScrollPastEnd()).toBe(true)
+        expect(editor.getAutoHeight()).toBe(false)
 
   describe "config defaults", ->
     it "uses the `editor.tabLength`, `editor.softWrap`, and `editor.softTabs`, and `core.fileEncoding` config values", ->
diff --git a/src/text-editor.coffee b/src/text-editor.coffee
index 560d06768..9fdc6bdd3 100644
--- a/src/text-editor.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor.coffee
@@ -234,6 +234,11 @@ class TextEditor extends Model
     if resetDisplayLayer
       @resetDisplayLayer()
 
+    if @editorElement?
+      @editorElement.views.getNextUpdatePromise()
+    else
+      Promise.resolve()
+
   serialize: ->
     tokenizedBufferState = @tokenizedBuffer.serialize()