diff --git a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js
index 7e79414..dd17ded 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/widgets/js/widget.js
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ define(["widgets/js/manager",
             var method = msg.content.data.method;
             switch (method) {
                 case 'update':
-                    this.apply_update(msg.content.data.state);
+                    this.set_state(msg.content.data.state);
                     break;
                 case 'custom':
                     this.trigger('msg:custom', msg.content.data.content);
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ define(["widgets/js/manager",
             }
         },
 
-        apply_update: function (state) {
+        set_state: function (state) {
             // Handle when a widget is updated via the python side.
             this.state_lock = state;
             try {