diff --git a/browser/base/content/browser.js b/browser/base/content/browser.js
index 6cc2f8f9a9a7..da01d284bed5 100644
--- a/browser/base/content/browser.js
+++ b/browser/base/content/browser.js
@@ -953,14 +953,15 @@ function delayedStartup()
   var shell = getShellService();
   if (shell) {
     var shouldCheck = shell.shouldCheckDefaultBrowser;
-    var willRestoreSession = false;
+    var willRecoverSession = false;
     try {
       var ss = Cc["@mozilla.org/browser/sessionstartup;1"].
                getService(Ci.nsISessionStartup);
-      willRestoreSession = ss.doRestore();
+      willRecoverSession =
+        (ss.sessionType == Ci.nsISessionStartup.RECOVER_SESSION);
     }
     catch (ex) { /* never mind; suppose SessionStore is broken */ }
-    if (shouldCheck && !shell.isDefaultBrowser(true) && !willRestoreSession) {
+    if (shouldCheck && !shell.isDefaultBrowser(true) && !willRecoverSession) {
       var brandBundle = document.getElementById("bundle_brand");
       var shellBundle = document.getElementById("bundle_shell");
 
diff --git a/browser/components/sessionstore/nsISessionStartup.idl b/browser/components/sessionstore/nsISessionStartup.idl
index 6281f190a7c7..6574fc5367f0 100644
--- a/browser/components/sessionstore/nsISessionStartup.idl
+++ b/browser/components/sessionstore/nsISessionStartup.idl
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
  * - and allows to restore everything into one window.
  */
 
-[scriptable, uuid(22496a00-227b-11db-a98b-0800200c9a66)]
+[scriptable, uuid(c0b185e7-0d21-46ac-8eee-7b5065ee7ecd)]
 interface nsISessionStartup: nsISupports
 {
   // Get session state as string
@@ -53,4 +53,15 @@ interface nsISessionStartup: nsISupports
    * Determine if session should be restored 
    */
   boolean doRestore();
+
+  /**
+   * What type of session we're restoring. If we have a session, we're
+   * either restoring state from a crash or restoring state that the user
+   * requested we save on shutdown.
+   */
+  const unsigned long NO_SESSION = 0;
+  const unsigned long RECOVER_SESSION = 1;
+  const unsigned long RESUME_SESSION = 2;
+
+  readonly attribute unsigned long sessionType;
 };
diff --git a/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStartup.js b/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStartup.js
index 803035159447..755654f0c2d6 100644
--- a/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStartup.js
+++ b/browser/components/sessionstore/src/nsSessionStartup.js
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ SessionStartup.prototype = {
 
   // the state to restore at startup
   _iniString: null,
+  _sessionType: Ci.nsISessionStartup.NO_SESSION,
 
 /* ........ Global Event Handlers .............. */
 
@@ -127,17 +128,22 @@ SessionStartup.prototype = {
         catch (ex) { debug("The session file is invalid: " + ex); } 
       }
     }
-    
+
     // prompt and check prefs
-    this._doRestore = this._lastSessionCrashed ? this._doRecoverSession() : this._doResumeSession();
-    if (this._iniString && !this._doRestore) {
-      this._iniString = null; // reset the state string
+    if (this._iniString) {
+      if (this._lastSessionCrashed && this._doRecoverSession())
+        this._sessionType = Ci.nsISessionStartup.RECOVER_SESSION;
+      else if (!this._lastSessionCrashed && this._doResumeSession())
+        this._sessionType = Ci.nsISessionStartup.RESUME_SESSION;
+      else
+        this._iniString = null; // reset the state string
     }
+
     if (this._prefBranch.getBoolPref("sessionstore.resume_session_once")) {
       this._prefBranch.setBoolPref("sessionstore.resume_session_once", false);
     }
     
-    if (this.doRestore()) {
+    if (this._sessionType != Ci.nsISessionStartup.NO_SESSION) {
       // wait for the first browser window to open
       var observerService = Cc["@mozilla.org/observer-service;1"].
                             getService(Ci.nsIObserverService);
@@ -219,7 +225,14 @@ SessionStartup.prototype = {
    * @returns bool
    */
   doRestore: function sss_doRestore() {
-    return this._doRestore && this._iniString != null;
+    return this._sessionType != Ci.nsISessionStartup.NO_SESSION;
+  },
+
+  /**
+   * Get the type of pending session store, if any.
+   */
+  get sessionType() {
+    return this._sessionType;
   },
 
 /* ........ Auxiliary Functions .............. */