diff --git a/Hammerspoon Tests/HSinspect.m b/Hammerspoon Tests/HSinspect.m
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a94f6d1d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Hammerspoon Tests/HSinspect.m	
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+//
+//  HSinspect.m
+//  Hammerspoon
+//
+//  Created by David Peterson on 18-Oct-2018.
+//  Copyright © 2016 Hammerspoon. All rights reserved.
+//
+
+#import "HSTestCase.h"
+
+@interface HSinspect : HSTestCase
+
+@end
+
+@implementation HSinspect
+
+- (void)setUp {
+    [super setUpWithRequire:@"test_inspect"];
+    // Put setup code here. This method is called before the invocation of each test method in the class.
+}
+
+- (void)tearDown {
+    // Put teardown code here. This method is called after the invocation of each test method in the class.
+    [super tearDown];
+}
+
+- (void)testEncode {
+    RUN_LUA_TEST()
+}
+
+- (void)testDecode {
+    RUN_LUA_TEST()
+}
+
+@end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/extensions/inspect/init.lua b/extensions/inspect/init.lua
index d653e2fb7..5d0b9eee8 100644
--- a/extensions/inspect/init.lua
+++ b/extensions/inspect/init.lua
@@ -236,7 +236,8 @@ function Inspector:putTable(t)
   elseif self.level >= self.depth then
     self:puts('{...}')
   else
-    if self.tableAppearances[t] > 1 then self:puts('<', self:getId(t), '>') end
+    local appearances = self.tableAppearances[t] or 0
+    if appearances > 1 then self:puts('<', self:getId(t), '>') end
 
     local nonSequentialKeys = getNonSequentialKeys(t)
     local length            = #t
diff --git a/extensions/inspect/test_inspect.lua b/extensions/inspect/test_inspect.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..70aa23f62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/inspect/test_inspect.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+-- hs.inspect tests
+hs.inspect = require("hs.inspect")
+
+-- tests the case where a custom __init always returns a new table instance as a key/value
+function testInspectAlwaysNewTableKeyValue()
+  local t = setmetatable({}, {
+    __init = function(_, _)
+      return {}
+    end,
+    __pairs = function(self)
+      local function stateless_iter(_, k)
+        if k ~= "a" then
+          return "a", "b"
+        end
+      end
+      -- Return an iterator function, the table, starting point
+    return stateless_iter, self, nil
+    end,
+  })
+
+  assertIsEqual('{a = "b"}', hs.inspect(t))
+
+  return success()
+end