diff --git a/packages/filebrowser/src/model.ts b/packages/filebrowser/src/model.ts
index ea74128c6802..f205cdda064e 100644
--- a/packages/filebrowser/src/model.ts
+++ b/packages/filebrowser/src/model.ts
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ export class FileBrowserModel implements IDisposable {
    *
    * @returns A promise with the contents of the directory.
    */
-  cd(newValue = '.'): Promise<void> {
+  async cd(newValue = '.'): Promise<void> {
     if (newValue !== '.') {
       newValue = Private.normalizePath(
         this.manager.services.contents,
@@ -248,9 +248,13 @@ export class FileBrowserModel implements IDisposable {
     } else {
       newValue = this._pendingPath || this._model.path;
     }
-    // Collapse requests to the same directory.
-    if (newValue === this._pendingPath && this._pending) {
-      return this._pending;
+    if (this._pending) {
+      // Collapse requests to the same directory.
+      if (newValue === this._pendingPath) {
+        return this._pending;
+      }
+      // Otherwise wait for the pending request to complete before continuing.
+      await this._pending;
     }
     let oldValue = this.path;
     let options: Contents.IFetchOptions = { content: true };
@@ -289,7 +293,7 @@ export class FileBrowserModel implements IDisposable {
           error.message = `Directory not found: "${this._model.path}"`;
           console.error(error);
           this._connectionFailure.emit(error);
-          this.cd('/');
+          return this.cd('/');
         } else {
           this._refreshDuration = this._baseRefreshDuration * 10;
           this._connectionFailure.emit(error);
diff --git a/tests/test-filebrowser/src/model.spec.ts b/tests/test-filebrowser/src/model.spec.ts
index 12ec722536b2..dcf87a01a158 100644
--- a/tests/test-filebrowser/src/model.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/test-filebrowser/src/model.spec.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ import { DocumentManager, IDocumentManager } from '@jupyterlab/docmanager';
 
 import { DocumentRegistry, TextModelFactory } from '@jupyterlab/docregistry';
 
-import { ServiceManager } from '@jupyterlab/services';
+import {
+  Contents,
+  ContentsManager,
+  ServiceManager
+} from '@jupyterlab/services';
 
 import {
   FileBrowserModel,
@@ -26,6 +30,29 @@ import {
 } from '@jupyterlab/testutils';
 import { toArray } from '@phosphor/algorithm';
 
+/**
+ * A contents manager that delays requests by less each time it is called
+ * in order to simulate out-of-order responses from the server.
+ */
+class DelayedContentsManager extends ContentsManager {
+  get(
+    path: string,
+    options?: Contents.IFetchOptions
+  ): Promise<Contents.IModel> {
+    return new Promise<Contents.IModel>(resolve => {
+      const delay = this._delay;
+      this._delay -= 500;
+      super.get(path, options).then(contents => {
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          resolve(contents);
+        }, Math.max(delay, 0));
+      });
+    });
+  }
+
+  private _delay = 1000;
+}
+
 describe('filebrowser/model', () => {
   let manager: IDocumentManager;
   let serviceManager: ServiceManager.IManager;
@@ -223,6 +250,33 @@ describe('filebrowser/model', () => {
         await model.cd('..');
         expect(model.path).to.equal('');
       });
+
+      it('should be resilient to a slow initial fetch', async () => {
+        let delayedServiceManager = new ServiceManager();
+        (delayedServiceManager as any).contents = new DelayedContentsManager();
+        let manager = new DocumentManager({
+          registry,
+          opener,
+          manager: delayedServiceManager
+        });
+        model = new FileBrowserModel({ manager, state });
+
+        const paths: string[] = [];
+        // An initial refresh is called in the constructor.
+        // If it is too slow, it can come in after the directory change,
+        // causing a directory set by, e.g., the tree handler to be wrong.
+        // This checks to make sure we are handling that case correctly.
+        const refresh = model.refresh().then(() => paths.push(model.path));
+        const cd = model.cd('src').then(() => paths.push(model.path));
+        await Promise.all([refresh, cd]);
+        expect(model.path).to.equal('src');
+        expect(paths).to.eql(['', 'src']);
+
+        manager.dispose();
+        delayedServiceManager.contents.dispose();
+        delayedServiceManager.dispose();
+        model.dispose();
+      });
     });
 
     describe('#restore()', () => {