diff --git a/backbone.js b/backbone.js
index ceb22e5b..e8896567 100644
--- a/backbone.js
+++ b/backbone.js
@@ -832,9 +832,9 @@
           fragment = window.location.hash;
         }
       }
-      fragment = decodeURIComponent(fragment.replace(routeStripper, ''));
+      fragment = decodeURIComponent(fragment);
       if (!fragment.indexOf(this.options.root)) fragment = fragment.substr(this.options.root.length);
-      return fragment;
+      return fragment.replace(routeStripper, '');
     },
 
     // Start the hash change handling, returning `true` if the current URL matches