diff --git a/src/ng/rootScope.js b/src/ng/rootScope.js
index 89279608464c..d4c49e8f9b63 100644
--- a/src/ng/rootScope.js
+++ b/src/ng/rootScope.js
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ function $RootScopeProvider() {
         var watch, value, last, fn, get,
             watchers,
             dirty, ttl = TTL,
-            next, current, target = this,
+            next, current, target = asyncQueue.length ? $rootScope : this,
             watchLog = [],
             logIdx, asyncTask;
 
diff --git a/test/ng/rootScopeSpec.js b/test/ng/rootScopeSpec.js
index 93f3dc9e6eef..26fc5473bdde 100644
--- a/test/ng/rootScopeSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/rootScopeSpec.js
@@ -1498,6 +1498,25 @@ describe('Scope', function() {
         $browser.defer.flush(100000);
         expect(log).toEqual(['eval-ed 1!', 'eval-ed 2!']);
       });
+
+      it('should not have execution affected by an explicit $digest call', function() {
+        var scope1 = $rootScope.$new();
+        var scope2 = $rootScope.$new();
+
+        scope1.$watch('value', function(value) {
+          scope1.result = value;
+        });
+
+        scope1.$evalAsync(function() {
+          scope1.value = 'bar';
+        });
+
+        scope2.$digest();
+
+        $browser.defer.flush(0);
+
+        expect(scope1.result).toBe('bar');
+      });
     });
   });