diff --git a/lib/application.js b/lib/application.js
index 838b882aaae..1c949cee9a1 100644
--- a/lib/application.js
+++ b/lib/application.js
@@ -554,25 +554,30 @@ app.render = function render(name, options, callback) {
       root: this.get('views'),
       engines: engines
     });
+  }
 
-    if (!view.path) {
-      var dirs = Array.isArray(view.root) && view.root.length > 1
-        ? 'directories "' + view.root.slice(0, -1).join('", "') + '" or "' + view.root[view.root.length - 1] + '"'
-        : 'directory "' + view.root + '"'
-      var err = new Error('Failed to lookup view "' + name + '" in views ' + dirs);
-      err.view = view;
-      return done(err);
-    }
+  if (!view.path) {
+    view.lookupMain(function (err) {
+      if (err) return done(err);
 
+      // prime the cache
+      if (renderOptions.cache) {
+        cache[name] = view;
+      }
+
+      // render
+      tryRender(view, renderOptions, done);
+    });
+  } else {
     // prime the cache
     if (renderOptions.cache) {
       cache[name] = view;
     }
-  }
 
-  // render
-  tryRender(view, renderOptions, done);
-};
+    // render
+    tryRender(view, renderOptions, done);
+  }
+}
 
 /**
  * Listen for connections.
diff --git a/lib/view.js b/lib/view.js
index d66b4a2d89c..ef48c6a6c5d 100644
--- a/lib/view.js
+++ b/lib/view.js
@@ -61,15 +61,11 @@ function View(name, options) {
     throw new Error('No default engine was specified and no extension was provided.');
   }
 
-  var fileName = name;
-
   if (!this.ext) {
     // get extension from default engine name
     this.ext = this.defaultEngine[0] !== '.'
       ? '.' + this.defaultEngine
       : this.defaultEngine;
-
-    fileName += this.ext;
   }
 
   if (!opts.engines[this.ext]) {
@@ -89,26 +85,30 @@ function View(name, options) {
 
   // store loaded engine
   this.engine = opts.engines[this.ext];
-
-  // lookup path
-  this.path = this.lookup(fileName);
 }
 
 /**
- * Lookup view by the given `name`
+ * Lookup view by the given `name` and `ext`
  *
  * @param {string} name
+ * @param {String} ext
+ * @param {Function} cb
  * @private
  */
 
-View.prototype.lookup = function lookup(name) {
-  var path;
+View.prototype.lookup = function lookup(name, cb) {
   var roots = [].concat(this.root);
 
   debug('lookup "%s"', name);
 
-  for (var i = 0; i < roots.length && !path; i++) {
-    var root = roots[i];
+  var ext = this.ext;
+
+  function lookup(roots, callback) {
+    var root = roots.shift();
+    if (!root) {
+      return callback(null, null);
+    }
+    debug("looking up '%s' in '%s'", name, root);
 
     // resolve the path
     var loc = resolve(root, name);
@@ -116,10 +116,19 @@ View.prototype.lookup = function lookup(name) {
     var file = basename(loc);
 
     // resolve the file
-    path = this.resolve(dir, file);
+    resolveView(dir, file, ext, function (err, resolved) {
+      if (err) {
+        return callback(err);
+      } else if (resolved) {
+        return callback(null, resolved);
+      } else {
+        return lookup(roots, callback);
+      }
+    });
+
   }
 
-  return path;
+  return lookup(roots, cb);
 };
 
 /**
@@ -135,6 +144,8 @@ View.prototype.render = function render(options, callback) {
 
   debug('render "%s"', this.path);
 
+  if (!this.path) return fn(new Error("View has not been fully initialized yet"));
+
   // render, normalizing sync callbacks
   this.engine(this.path, options, function onRender() {
     if (!sync) {
@@ -158,48 +169,93 @@ View.prototype.render = function render(options, callback) {
   sync = false;
 };
 
+/** Resolve the main template for this view
+ *
+ * @param {function} cb
+ * @private
+ */
+View.prototype.lookupMain = function lookupMain(cb) {
+  if (this.path) return cb();
+  var view = this;
+  var name = path.extname(this.name) === this.ext
+    ? this.name
+    : this.name + this.ext;
+  this.lookup(name, function (err, path) {
+    if (err) {
+      return cb(err);
+    } else if (!path) {
+      var dirs = Array.isArray(view.root) && view.root.length > 1
+        ? 'directories "' + view.root.slice(0, -1).join('", "') + '" or "' + view.root[view.root.length - 1] + '"'
+        : 'directory "' + view.root + '"'
+      var viewError = new Error('Failed to lookup view "' + view.name + '" in views ' + dirs);
+      viewError.view = view;
+      return cb(viewError);
+    } else {
+      view.path = path;
+      cb();
+    }
+  });
+};
+
 /**
  * Resolve the file within the given directory.
  *
  * @param {string} dir
  * @param {string} file
+ * @param {string} ext
+ * @param {function} cb
  * @private
  */
 
-View.prototype.resolve = function resolve(dir, file) {
-  var ext = this.ext;
-
-  // <path>.<ext>
+function resolveView(dir, file, ext, cb) {
   var path = join(dir, file);
-  var stat = tryStat(path);
-
-  if (stat && stat.isFile()) {
-    return path;
-  }
 
-  // <path>/index.<ext>
-  path = join(dir, basename(file, ext), 'index' + ext);
-  stat = tryStat(path);
+  // <path>.<ext>
+  limitStat(path, function (err, stat) {
+    if (err && err.code !== 'ENOENT') {
+      return cb(err);
+    } else if (!err && stat && stat.isFile()) {
+      return cb(null, path);
+    }
 
-  if (stat && stat.isFile()) {
-    return path;
-  }
-};
+    // <path>/index.<ext>
+    path = join(dir, basename(file, ext), 'index' + ext);
+    limitStat(path, function (err, stat) {
+      if (err && err.code === 'ENOENT') {
+        return cb(null, null);
+      } else if (!err && stat && stat.isFile()) {
+        return cb(null, path);
+      } else {
+        return cb(err || new Error("error looking up '" + path + "'"));
+      }
+    });
+  });
+}
 
+var pendingStats = [];
+var numPendingStats = 0;
 /**
- * Return a stat, maybe.
+ * an fs.stat call that limits the number of outstanding requests to 10.
  *
- * @param {string} path
- * @return {fs.Stats}
- * @private
+ * @param {String} path
+ * @param {Function} cb
  */
+function limitStat(path, cb) {
+  if (++numPendingStats > 10) {
+    pendingStats.push([path, cb]);
+  } else {
+    fs.stat(path, cbAndDequeue(cb));
+  }
 
-function tryStat(path) {
-  debug('stat "%s"', path);
-
-  try {
-    return fs.statSync(path);
-  } catch (e) {
-    return undefined;
+  function cbAndDequeue(cb) {
+    return function (err, stat) {
+      cb(err, stat);
+      var next = pendingStats.shift();
+      if (next) {
+        fs.stat(next[0], cbAndDequeue(next[1]));
+      } else {
+        numPendingStats--;
+      }
+    }
   }
 }