diff --git a/spec/state-store-spec.js b/spec/state-store-spec.js
index f505cf607..955ceb767 100644
--- a/spec/state-store-spec.js
+++ b/spec/state-store-spec.js
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 /** @babel */
-import {it, ffit, fffit, beforeEach, afterEach} from './async-spec-helpers'
+import {it, fit, ffit, fffit, beforeEach, afterEach} from './async-spec-helpers'
 
 const StateStore = require('../src/state-store.js')
 
 describe("StateStore", () => {
+  let databaseName = `test-database-${Date.now()}`
+  let version = 1
+
   it("can save and load states", () => {
-    const store = new StateStore()
+    const store = new StateStore(databaseName, version)
     return store.save('key', {foo:'bar'})
       .then(() => store.load('key'))
       .then((state) => {
@@ -13,9 +16,16 @@ describe("StateStore", () => {
       })
   })
 
+  it("resolves with null when a non-existent key is loaded", () => {
+    const store = new StateStore(databaseName, version)
+    return store.load('no-such-key').then((value) => {
+      expect(value).toBeNull()
+    })
+  });
+
   describe("when there is an error reading from the database", () => {
     it("rejects the promise returned by load", () => {
-      const store = new StateStore()
+      const store = new StateStore(databaseName, version)
 
       const fakeErrorEvent = {target: {errorCode: "Something bad happened"}}
 
diff --git a/src/atom-environment.coffee b/src/atom-environment.coffee
index 141c1c112..c02ac59c7 100644
--- a/src/atom-environment.coffee
+++ b/src/atom-environment.coffee
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ class AtomEnvironment extends Model
     @emitter = new Emitter
     @disposables = new CompositeDisposable
 
-    @stateStore = new StateStore
+    @stateStore = new StateStore('AtomEnvironments', 1)
 
     @deserializers = new DeserializerManager(this)
     @deserializeTimings = {}
diff --git a/src/state-store.js b/src/state-store.js
index f07560038..817d4282f 100644
--- a/src/state-store.js
+++ b/src/state-store.js
@@ -2,28 +2,33 @@
 
 module.exports =
 class StateStore {
-  constructor () {
-    this.dbPromise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      let dbOpenRequest = indexedDB.open('AtomEnvironments', 1)
+  constructor (databaseName, version) {
+    this.dbPromise = new Promise((resolve) => {
+      let dbOpenRequest = indexedDB.open(databaseName, version)
       dbOpenRequest.onupgradeneeded = (event) => {
         let db = event.target.result
         db.createObjectStore('states')
-        resolve(db)
       }
       dbOpenRequest.onsuccess = () => {
         resolve(dbOpenRequest.result)
       }
-      dbOpenRequest.onerror = reject
+      dbOpenRequest.onerror = (error) => {
+        console.error("Could not connect to indexedDB", error)
+        resolve(null)
+      }
     })
   }
 
   save (key, value) {
     return this.dbPromise.then(db => {
-      value.storedAt = new Date().toString()
+      if (!db) {
+        return
+      }
+
       return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
         var request = db.transaction(['states'], 'readwrite')
           .objectStore('states')
-          .put(value, key)
+          .put({value: value, storedAt: new Date().toString()}, key)
 
         request.onsuccess = resolve
         request.onerror = reject
@@ -33,12 +38,20 @@ class StateStore {
 
   load (key) {
     return this.dbPromise.then(db => {
+      if (!db) {
+        return null
+      }
+
       return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
         var request = db.transaction(['states'])
           .objectStore('states')
           .get(key)
 
-        request.onsuccess = (event) => resolve(event.target.result)
+        request.onsuccess = (event) => {
+          let result = event.target.result
+          resolve(result ? result.value : null)
+        }
+
         request.onerror = (event) => reject(event)
       })
     })