diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 71a5929..8ee1768 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) and this p
 ### Fixed
 - Fixes [#444](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/444) - GitLens custom viewlet icon slightly larger than standard
 - Fixes [#437](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/437) - Remove --first-parent from git commands to show file history from merged in repositories
+- Fixes [#252](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/252) - Cannot read property 'push' of undefined
 - Fixes issue where GitLens saves a couple settings with default values into user settings (rather than just removing the setting)
 
 ## [8.5.0] - 2018-07-16
diff --git a/src/views/nodes/statusNode.ts b/src/views/nodes/statusNode.ts
index 26c58bb..3f578d4 100644
--- a/src/views/nodes/statusNode.ts
+++ b/src/views/nodes/statusNode.ts
@@ -25,21 +25,21 @@ export class StatusNode extends ExplorerNode {
     async getChildren(): Promise<ExplorerNode[]> {
         this.resetChildren();
 
-        this.children = [];
+        const children = [];
 
         const status = await this.repo.getStatus();
         if (status !== undefined) {
             if (status.state.behind) {
-                this.children.push(new StatusUpstreamNode(status, 'behind', this.explorer, this.active));
+                children.push(new StatusUpstreamNode(status, 'behind', this.explorer, this.active));
             }
 
             if (status.state.ahead) {
-                this.children.push(new StatusUpstreamNode(status, 'ahead', this.explorer, this.active));
+                children.push(new StatusUpstreamNode(status, 'ahead', this.explorer, this.active));
             }
 
             if (status.state.ahead || (status.files.length !== 0 && this.includeWorkingTree)) {
                 const range = status.upstream ? `${status.upstream}..${status.branch}` : undefined;
-                this.children.push(new StatusFilesNode(status, range, this.explorer, this.active));
+                children.push(new StatusFilesNode(status, range, this.explorer, this.active));
             }
         }
 
@@ -57,9 +57,10 @@ export class StatusNode extends ExplorerNode {
                 );
             }
 
-            this.children.push(new StatusBranchNode(branch, this.uri, this.explorer));
+            children.push(new StatusBranchNode(branch, this.uri, this.explorer));
         }
 
+        this.children = children;
         return this.children;
     }