diff --git a/backbone.js b/backbone.js
index d6a0aa9e..c5c55158 100644
--- a/backbone.js
+++ b/backbone.js
@@ -1031,6 +1031,7 @@
       this.$el = $(element);
       this.el = this.$el[0];
       if (delegate !== false) this.delegateEvents();
+      return this;
     },
 
     // Set callbacks, where `this.events` is a hash of