diff --git a/spec/history-manager-spec.js b/spec/history-manager-spec.js
index 7a06fce9b..13a3192fb 100644
--- a/spec/history-manager-spec.js
+++ b/spec/history-manager-spec.js
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ describe("HistoryManager", () => {
   let commandDisposable, projectDisposable
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
+    // Do not clobber recent project history
+    spyOn(atom.applicationDelegate, 'didChangeHistoryManager')
+
     commandDisposable = jasmine.createSpyObj('Disposable', ['dispose'])
     commandRegistry = jasmine.createSpyObj('CommandRegistry', ['add'])
     commandRegistry.add.andReturn(commandDisposable)
diff --git a/spec/spec-helper.coffee b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
index 7621f9cae..7efad7dd4 100644
--- a/spec/spec-helper.coffee
+++ b/spec/spec-helper.coffee
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ else
   specProjectPath = require('os').tmpdir()
 
 beforeEach ->
+  # Do not clobber recent project history
+  spyOn(atom.history, 'saveState').andReturn(Promise.resolve())
+
   atom.project.setPaths([specProjectPath])
 
   window.resetTimeouts()
diff --git a/src/history-manager.js b/src/history-manager.js
index a8ddbaae9..306c11812 100644
--- a/src/history-manager.js
+++ b/src/history-manager.js
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ export class HistoryManager {
     return this.emitter.on('did-change-projects', callback)
   }
 
-  didChangeProjects (args) {
-    this.emitter.emit('did-change-projects', args || { reloaded: false })
+  didChangeProjects (args = {reloaded: false}) {
+    this.emitter.emit('did-change-projects', args)
   }
 
   async addProject (paths, lastOpened) {
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ export class HistoryManager {
   }
 
   async loadState () {
-    let history = await this.stateStore.load('history-manager')
+    const history = await this.stateStore.load('history-manager')
     if (history && history.projects) {
       this.projects = history.projects.filter(p => Array.isArray(p.paths) && p.paths.length > 0).map(p => new HistoryProject(p.paths, new Date(p.lastOpened)))
       this.didChangeProjects({reloaded: true})