diff --git a/‎src/lib/custom-style.html‎
Lines changed: 5 additions & 6 deletions b/‎src/lib/custom-style.html‎
Lines changed: 5 additions & 6 deletions
diff --git a/‎src/lib/style-defaults.html‎
Lines changed: 4 additions & 0 deletions b/‎src/lib/style-defaults.html‎
Lines changed: 4 additions & 0 deletions
@@ -144,6 +144,11 @@
           var e = this.__appliedElement;
           // used applied element from HTMLImports polyfill or this
           if (!settings.useNativeCSSProperties) {
+            // if default style properties exist when 
+            // this element tries to apply styling then,
+            // it has been loaded async and needs to trigger a full updateStyles
+            // to guarantee properties it provides update correctly.
+            this.__needsUpdateStyles = styleDefaults.hasStyleProperties();
             styleDefaults.addStyle(e);
           }
           // we may not have any textContent yet due to parser yielding
@@ -186,7 +191,6 @@
       // build = shady, use = shadow => not supported
       // build = shadow, use = shady => needs shimming.
       // build = none => needs shimming
-
       var buildType = this.__cssBuild;
       var targetedBuild = styleUtil.isTargetedBuild(buildType);
 
@@ -229,11 +233,6 @@
         // `_apply` after B.
         // This case should only occur with native webcomponents.
         var self = this;
-        // if Polymer is ready when this element tries to apply styling then,
-        // it has been loaded async and needs to trigger a full updateStyles
-        // to guarantee properies update correctly.
-        this.__needsUpdateStyles = Polymer.RenderStatus.hasRendered() && 
-          (this.__needsUpdateStyles !== false);
         var fn = function fn() {
           self._flushCustomProperties();
         }
 
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@
         return this._properties;
       },
 
+      hasStyleProperties: function() {
+        return Boolean(this._properties);
+      },
+
       _needsStyleProperties: function() {},
 
       _computeStyleProperties: function() {