diff --git a/spec/app/window-spec.coffee b/spec/app/window-spec.coffee
index 316f480c8..2471d6cc3 100644
--- a/spec/app/window-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/window-spec.coffee
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ $ = require 'jquery'
 fs = require 'fs'
 
 describe "Window", ->
+  [rootView] = []
+
   beforeEach ->
     window.attachRootView(require.resolve('fixtures'))
+    rootView = window.rootView
 
   afterEach ->
     window.shutdown()
@@ -68,7 +71,7 @@ describe "Window", ->
       expect(atom.getRootViewStateForPath(window.rootView.project.getPath())).toBeUndefined()
       expectedState = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(window.rootView.serialize())) # JSON.stringify removes keys with undefined values
       $(window).trigger 'beforeunload'
-      expect(atom.getRootViewStateForPath(window.rootView.project.getPath())).toEqual expectedState
+      expect(atom.getRootViewStateForPath(rootView.project.getPath())).toEqual expectedState
 
     it "unsubscribes from all buffers", ->
       rootView.open('sample.js')
@@ -79,3 +82,12 @@ describe "Window", ->
       $(window).trigger 'beforeunload'
 
       expect(editor1.getBuffer().subscriptionCount()).toBe 0
+
+  describe ".shutdown()", ->
+    it "only deactivates the RootView the first time it is called", ->
+      deactivateSpy = spyOn(rootView, "deactivate").andCallThrough()
+      window.shutdown()
+      expect(rootView.deactivate).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      deactivateSpy.reset()
+      window.shutdown()
+      expect(rootView.deactivate).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
diff --git a/src/app/window.coffee b/src/app/window.coffee
index 23e4dbb36..85077e84a 100644
--- a/src/app/window.coffee
+++ b/src/app/window.coffee
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ windowAdditions =
       false
 
   shutdown: ->
-    @rootView.deactivate()
+    @rootView?.deactivate()
+    @rootView = null
     $(window).unbind('focus')
     $(window).unbind('blur')
     $(window).off('before')