diff --git a/src/atom.coffee b/src/atom.coffee
index 2a3831de2..a68136d02 100644
--- a/src/atom.coffee
+++ b/src/atom.coffee
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Model = require './model'
 WindowEventHandler = require './window-event-handler'
 StylesElement = require './styles-element'
 StorageFolder = require './storage-folder'
-getWindowLoadSettings = require './get-window-load-settings'
+{getWindowLoadSettings, setWindowLoadSettings} = require './window-load-settings-helpers'
 
 Workspace = require './workspace'
 PaneContainer = require './pane-container'
@@ -278,8 +278,9 @@ class Atom extends Model
     getWindowLoadSettings()
 
   updateLoadSetting: (key, value) ->
-    @getLoadSettings()[key] = value
-    location.hash = encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(@loadSettings))
+    loadSettings = @getLoadSettings()
+    loadSettings[key] = value
+    setWindowLoadSettings(loadSettings)
 
   ###
   Section: Managing The Atom Window
diff --git a/src/initialize-application-window.coffee b/src/initialize-application-window.coffee
index 1646c17a8..a10cc9dba 100644
--- a/src/initialize-application-window.coffee
+++ b/src/initialize-application-window.coffee
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 path = require 'path'
 require './window'
-getWindowLoadSettings = require './get-window-load-settings'
+{getWindowLoadSettings} = require './window-load-settings-helpers'
 
 {resourcePath, isSpec, devMode} = getWindowLoadSettings()
 
diff --git a/src/get-window-load-settings.coffee b/src/window-load-settings-helpers.coffee
similarity index 74%
rename from src/get-window-load-settings.coffee
rename to src/window-load-settings-helpers.coffee
index 7f41ad05f..1ae76c442 100644
--- a/src/get-window-load-settings.coffee
+++ b/src/window-load-settings-helpers.coffee
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ _ = require 'underscore-plus'
 
 windowLoadSettings = null
 
-module.exports = ->
+exports.getWindowLoadSettings = ->
   windowLoadSettings ?= JSON.parse(window.decodeURIComponent(window.location.hash.substr(1)))
   clone = _.deepClone(windowLoadSettings)
 
@@ -14,3 +14,7 @@ module.exports = ->
     remote.getCurrentWindow().loadSettings.windowState = value
 
   clone
+
+exports.setWindowLoadSettings = (settings) ->
+  windowLoadSettings = settings
+  location.hash = encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(settings))