diff --git a/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee b/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee
index c74e28ef6..32dd6b85e 100644
--- a/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/editor-spec.coffee
@@ -1623,8 +1623,8 @@ describe "Editor", ->
 
     describe "tab", ->
       describe "if editor.softTabs is true (the default)", ->
-        it "inserts atom.tabText into the buffer", ->
-          tabRegex = new RegExp("^#{atom.tabText}")
+        it "inserts editor.tabText into the buffer", ->
+          tabRegex = new RegExp("^#{editor.tabText}")
           expect(buffer.lineForRow(0)).not.toMatch(tabRegex)
           editor.trigger 'tab'
           expect(buffer.lineForRow(0)).toMatch(tabRegex)
diff --git a/spec/app/highlighter-spec.coffee b/spec/app/highlighter-spec.coffee
index c30f74859..d0cd85361 100644
--- a/spec/app/highlighter-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/highlighter-spec.coffee
@@ -139,18 +139,21 @@ describe "Highlighter", ->
         expect(event.newRange).toEqual new Range([2, 0], [7, buffer.lineForRow(7).length])
 
   describe "when the buffer contains tab characters", ->
-    beforeEach ->
-      buffer = new Buffer(require.resolve('fixtures/sample-with-tabs.coffee'))
-      highlighter = new Highlighter(buffer)
+    tabText = null
 
-    it "always renders each tab as its own atomic token containing atom.tabText", ->
+    beforeEach ->
+      tabText = '  '
+      buffer = new Buffer(require.resolve('fixtures/sample-with-tabs.coffee'))
+      highlighter = new Highlighter(buffer, tabText)
+
+    it "always renders each tab as its own atomic token containing tabText", ->
       screenLine0 = highlighter.lineForScreenRow(0)
-      expect(screenLine0.text).toBe "# Econ 101#{atom.tabText}"
+      expect(screenLine0.text).toBe "# Econ 101#{tabText}"
       { tokens } = screenLine0
       expect(tokens.length).toBe 2
       expect(tokens[0].value).toBe "# Econ 101"
-      expect(tokens[1].value).toBe atom.tabText
+      expect(tokens[1].value).toBe tabText
       expect(tokens[1].type).toBe tokens[0].type
       expect(tokens[1].isAtomic).toBeTruthy()
 
-      expect(highlighter.lineForScreenRow(2).text).toBe "#{atom.tabText} buy()#{atom.tabText}while supply > demand"
+      expect(highlighter.lineForScreenRow(2).text).toBe "#{tabText} buy()#{tabText}while supply > demand"
diff --git a/spec/app/renderer-spec.coffee b/spec/app/renderer-spec.coffee
index 742dabf9a..5feb36849 100644
--- a/spec/app/renderer-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/renderer-spec.coffee
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@ Renderer = require 'renderer'
 Buffer = require 'buffer'
 
 describe "Renderer", ->
-  [renderer, buffer, changeHandler] = []
+  [renderer, buffer, changeHandler, tabText] = []
   beforeEach ->
+    tabText = '  '
     buffer = new Buffer(require.resolve 'fixtures/sample.js')
-    renderer = new Renderer(buffer)
+    renderer = new Renderer(buffer, {tabText})
     changeHandler = jasmine.createSpy 'changeHandler'
     renderer.on 'change', changeHandler
 
@@ -608,7 +609,7 @@ describe "Renderer", ->
         buffer.insert([0, 0], '\t')
         expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, 0])).toEqual [0, 0]
         expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, 1])).toEqual [0, 0]
-        expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, atom.tabText.length])).toEqual [0, atom.tabText.length]
+        expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, tabText.length])).toEqual [0, tabText.length]
 
     describe "when skipAtomicTokens is true", ->
       it "wraps the screen positions in the middle of fold placeholders to the end of the placeholder", ->
@@ -620,8 +621,8 @@ describe "Renderer", ->
       it "clips screen positions in the middle of atomic tab characters to the beginning of the character", ->
         buffer.insert([0, 0], '\t')
         expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, 0], skipAtomicTokens: true)).toEqual [0, 0]
-        expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, 1], skipAtomicTokens: true)).toEqual [0, atom.tabText.length]
-        expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, atom.tabText.length], skipAtomicTokens: true)).toEqual [0, atom.tabText.length]
+        expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, 1], skipAtomicTokens: true)).toEqual [0, tabText.length]
+        expect(renderer.clipScreenPosition([0, tabText.length], skipAtomicTokens: true)).toEqual [0, tabText.length]
 
   describe ".bufferRowsForScreenRows()", ->
     it "returns the buffer rows corresponding to each screen row in the given range", ->
diff --git a/src/app/ace-outdent-adaptor.coffee b/src/app/ace-outdent-adaptor.coffee
index 5e54d9fa4..c4674ac01 100644
--- a/src/app/ace-outdent-adaptor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/ace-outdent-adaptor.coffee
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class AceOutdentAdaptor
   replace: (range, text) ->
     {row, column} = @editor.getCursorBufferPosition()
     start = range.start
-    end = {row: range.start.row, column: range.start.column + atom.tabText.length}
+    end = {row: range.start.row, column: range.start.column + @editor.tabText.length}
     @buffer.change(new Range(start, end), "")
-    @editor.setCursorBufferPosition({row, column: column - atom.tabText.length})
+    @editor.setCursorBufferPosition({row, column: column - @editor.tabText.length})
 
diff --git a/src/app/atom.coffee b/src/app/atom.coffee
index 8f3187857..7fe0d0bea 100644
--- a/src/app/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/app/atom.coffee
@@ -9,13 +9,11 @@ module.exports =
 class Atom
   keymap: null
   windows: null
-  tabText: null
   userConfigurationPath: null
 
   constructor: (@loadPath, nativeMethods)->
     @windows = []
     @setUpKeymap()
-    @tabText = "  "
     @userConfigurationPath = fs.absolute "~/.atom/atom.coffee"
 
   setUpKeymap: ->
diff --git a/src/app/editor.coffee b/src/app/editor.coffee
index 187cba191..cbcb7ef00 100644
--- a/src/app/editor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/editor.coffee
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ class Editor extends View
   lineCache: null
   isFocused: false
   softTabs: true
+  tabText: '  '
 
   initialize: ({buffer}) ->
     requireStylesheet 'editor.css'
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ class Editor extends View
     @trigger 'buffer-path-change'
     @buffer.on "path-change.editor#{@id}", => @trigger 'buffer-path-change'
 
-    @renderer = new Renderer(@buffer, { maxLineLength: @calcMaxLineLength() })
+    @renderer = new Renderer(@buffer, { maxLineLength: @calcMaxLineLength(), tabText: @tabText })
     @renderLines()
     @gutter.renderLineNumbers()
 
@@ -409,7 +410,7 @@ class Editor extends View
 
   insertTab: ->
     if @softTabs
-      @compositeSelection.insertText(atom.tabText)
+      @compositeSelection.insertText(@tabText)
     else
       @compositeSelection.insertText('\t')
 
diff --git a/src/app/highlighter.coffee b/src/app/highlighter.coffee
index 66eb26748..a0e8035b9 100644
--- a/src/app/highlighter.coffee
+++ b/src/app/highlighter.coffee
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ class Highlighter
   buffer: null
   screenLines: []
 
-  constructor: (@buffer) ->
+  constructor: (@buffer, @tabText) ->
     @id = @constructor.idCounter++
     @screenLines = @buildLinesForScreenRows('start', 0, @buffer.getLastRow())
     @buffer.on "change.highlighter#{@id}", (e) => @handleBufferChange(e)
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class Highlighter
     tokenObjects = []
     for tokenProperties in tokens
       token = new Token(tokenProperties)
-      tokenObjects.push(token.breakOutTabCharacters()...)
+      tokenObjects.push(token.breakOutTabCharacters(@tabText)...)
     text = _.pluck(tokenObjects, 'value').join('')
     new ScreenLineFragment(tokenObjects, text, [1, 0], [1, 0], { state })
 
diff --git a/src/app/renderer.coffee b/src/app/renderer.coffee
index f05c0d173..6b7c0cef3 100644
--- a/src/app/renderer.coffee
+++ b/src/app/renderer.coffee
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class Renderer
 
   constructor: (@buffer, options={}) ->
     @id = @constructor.idCounter++
-    @highlighter = new Highlighter(@buffer)
+    @highlighter = new Highlighter(@buffer, options.tabText ? '  ')
     @maxLineLength = options.maxLineLength ? Infinity
     @activeFolds = {}
     @foldsById = {}
diff --git a/src/app/selection.coffee b/src/app/selection.coffee
index 0dc42d6c6..fd9f71e60 100644
--- a/src/app/selection.coffee
+++ b/src/app/selection.coffee
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ class Selection extends View
       row = @cursor.getScreenPosition().row
       state = @editor.stateForScreenRow(row)
       if text[0] == "\n"
-        indent = mode.getNextLineIndent(state, @cursor.getCurrentBufferLine(), atom.tabText)
+        indent = mode.getNextLineIndent(state, @cursor.getCurrentBufferLine(), @editor.tabText)
         text = text[0] + indent + text[1..]
       else if mode.checkOutdent(state, @cursor.getCurrentBufferLine(), text)
         shouldOutdent = true
diff --git a/src/app/token.coffee b/src/app/token.coffee
index e52a63cb6..e989ffb0a 100644
--- a/src/app/token.coffee
+++ b/src/app/token.coffee
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@ class Token
     value2 = @value.substring(splitIndex)
     [new Token(value: value1, type: @type), new Token(value: value2, type: @type)]
 
-  breakOutTabCharacters: ->
+  breakOutTabCharacters: (tabText) ->
     for substring in @value.match(/([^\t]+|\t)/g)
       if substring == '\t'
-        @buildTabToken()
+        @buildTabToken(tabText)
       else
         new Token(value: substring, type: @type)
 
-  buildTabToken: ->
-    new Token(value: atom.tabText, type: @type, isAtomic: true)
+  buildTabToken: (tabText) ->
+    new Token(value: tabText, type: @type, isAtomic: true)