diff --git a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/widget.js b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/widget.js
index 77bc33c..9d0a249 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/widget.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgets/widget.js
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ function(WidgetManager, Underscore, Backbone){
                             this.msg_buffer = _.extend(this.msg_buffer || {}, attrs);
                             break;
                         case 'update':
+                        case 'create':
                             this.msg_buffer = attrs;
                             break;
                         default: