diff --git a/src/history/base.js b/src/history/base.js
index 40cccfe6a..4e05cb1ce 100644
--- a/src/history/base.js
+++ b/src/history/base.js
@@ -107,6 +107,14 @@ export class History {
       hook && hook(route, prev)
     })
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Dummy method to make flow happy...
+   * otherwise it won't let me call `this.history.onHashChange`
+   * inside a `switch case`...
+   * Advices on how to remove this method are much appreciated.
+   */
+  onHashChange () {}
 }
 
 function normalizeBase (base: ?string): string {
diff --git a/src/history/hash.js b/src/history/hash.js
index c13466477..137efe293 100644
--- a/src/history/hash.js
+++ b/src/history/hash.js
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@ export class HashHistory extends History {
     }
 
     ensureSlash()
-    this.transitionTo(getHash(), () => {
-      window.addEventListener('hashchange', () => {
-        this.onHashChange()
-      })
-    })
   }
 
   checkFallback () {
@@ -73,7 +68,7 @@ function ensureSlash (): boolean {
   return false
 }
 
-function getHash (): string {
+export function getHash (): string {
   // We can't use window.location.hash here because it's not
   // consistent across browsers - Firefox will pre-decode it!
   const href = window.location.href
diff --git a/src/history/html5.js b/src/history/html5.js
index f7b9fbba7..d0ef0603b 100644
--- a/src/history/html5.js
+++ b/src/history/html5.js
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ export class HTML5History extends History {
   constructor (router: VueRouter, base: ?string) {
     super(router, base)
 
-    this.transitionTo(getLocation(this.base))
-
     const expectScroll = router.options.scrollBehavior
     window.addEventListener('popstate', e => {
       _key = e.state && e.state.key
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index bbe3f2d29..217f6ca1b 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 import { install } from './install'
 import { createMatcher } from './create-matcher'
-import { HashHistory } from './history/hash'
-import { HTML5History } from './history/html5'
+import { HashHistory, getHash } from './history/hash'
+import { HTML5History, getLocation } from './history/html5'
 import { AbstractHistory } from './history/abstract'
 import { inBrowser, supportsHistory } from './util/dom'
 import { assert } from './util/warn'
@@ -36,6 +36,20 @@ export default class VueRouter {
       mode = 'abstract'
     }
     this.mode = mode
+
+    switch (mode) {
+      case 'history':
+        this.history = new HTML5History(this, options.base)
+        break
+      case 'hash':
+        this.history = new HashHistory(this, options.base, this.fallback)
+        break
+      case 'abstract':
+        this.history = new AbstractHistory(this)
+        break
+      default:
+        assert(false, `invalid mode: ${mode}`)
+    }
   }
 
   get currentRoute (): ?Route {
@@ -51,19 +65,17 @@ export default class VueRouter {
 
     this.app = app
 
-    const { mode, options, fallback } = this
-    switch (mode) {
+    switch (this.mode) {
       case 'history':
-        this.history = new HTML5History(this, options.base)
+        this.history.transitionTo(getLocation(this.history.base))
         break
       case 'hash':
-        this.history = new HashHistory(this, options.base, fallback)
+        this.history.transitionTo(getHash(), () => {
+          window.addEventListener('hashchange', () => {
+            this.history.onHashChange()
+          })
+        })
         break
-      case 'abstract':
-        this.history = new AbstractHistory(this)
-        break
-      default:
-        assert(false, `invalid mode: ${mode}`)
     }
 
     this.history.listen(route => {