diff --git a/src/lib/sidenav/sidenav.ts b/src/lib/sidenav/sidenav.ts
index de1315043efc..0b200ec3a4c0 100644
--- a/src/lib/sidenav/sidenav.ts
+++ b/src/lib/sidenav/sidenav.ts
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ export class MdSidenav {
     // TODO(jelbourn): this coercion goes away when BooleanFieldValue is removed.
     let booleanValue = v != null && `${v}` !== 'false';
     this.toggle(booleanValue);
+
+    this._openPromise = null;
+    this._closePromise = null;
   }