diff --git a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/menubar.js b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/menubar.js
index 306059959..fc6f26523 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/menubar.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/menubar.js
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ define([
             // notebook's path.
             that.contents.new(that.notebook.notebook_path, null, {
                     ext: ".ipynb",
+                    extra_settings: {async: false},  // So we can open a new window afterwards
                     success: function (data) {
                         window.open(
                             utils.url_join_encode(
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/services/contents.js b/IPython/html/static/services/contents.js
index 9459da406..3cc5f11e5 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/services/contents.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/services/contents.js
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ define([
             success : options.success || function() {},
             error : this.create_basic_error_handler(options.error)
         };
+        if (options.extra_settings) {
+            $.extend(settings, options.extra_settings);
+        }
         $.ajax(this.api_url(path), settings);
     };
 
diff --git a/IPython/html/static/tree/js/main.js b/IPython/html/static/tree/js/main.js
index b2db0b3b4..2396ad8db 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/tree/js/main.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/tree/js/main.js
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ require([
     $('#new_notebook').click(function (e) {
         contents.new(common_options.notebook_path, null, {
                 ext: ".ipynb",
+                extra_settings: {async: false},  // So we can open a new window afterwards
                 success: function (data) {
                     window.open(
                         utils.url_join_encode(