diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0f160ec..f5df7eb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@
     <img src="https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/yoshuawuyts/choo/master.svg?style=flat-square"
       alt="Test Coverage" />
   </a>
+  <!-- Downloads -->
+  <a href="https://npmjs.org/package/choo">
+    <img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/choo.svg?style=flat-square"
+      alt="Downloads" />
+  </a>
   <!-- Standard -->
   <a href="https://codecov.io/github/yoshuawuyts/choo">
     <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/code%20style-standard-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square"
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 1a5274e..b0fa2b1 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -54,7 +54,10 @@ function choo () {
   // start the application
   // (str?, obj?) -> DOMNode
   function start (rootId, opts) {
-    if (!opts) opts = rootId
+    if (!opts) {
+      opts = rootId
+      rootId = null
+    }
     opts = opts || {}
     const name = opts.name || 'choo'
     const initialState = {}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 551567e..45e6579 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "choo",
-  "version": "2.1.4",
+  "version": "2.1.6",
   "description": "A 7kb framework for creating sturdy frontend applications",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {