diff --git a/resources/static/communication_iframe/start.js b/resources/static/communication_iframe/start.js
index 57ce36dcaca52ba1d78fc3db41208e89371444ec..fa26648aef2caed72eeb18c9a81b2259cee266c5 100644
--- a/resources/static/communication_iframe/start.js
+++ b/resources/static/communication_iframe/start.js
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
       user = bid.User,
       storage = bid.Storage;
 
+  // Initialize all localstorage values to default values.  Neccesary for
+  // proper sync of IE8 localStorage across multiple simultaneous
+  // browser sessions.
+  storage.setDefaultValues();
+
   network.init();
 
   var chan = Channel.build({
diff --git a/resources/static/shared/storage.js b/resources/static/shared/storage.js
index c4f7b0f741b4b9dbc450396f3c90147f882edd39..4163e0e6bf73f420ca776d9ea5c8f6cb3b180479 100644
--- a/resources/static/shared/storage.js
+++ b/resources/static/shared/storage.js
@@ -49,11 +49,34 @@ BrowserID.Storage = (function() {
 
   function clear() {
     storage.removeItem("emails");
-    storage.removeItem("tempKeypair");
     storage.removeItem("siteInfo");
     storage.removeItem("managePage");
   }
 
+  // initialize all localStorage values to default if they are unset.
+  // this function is only neccesary on IE8 where there are localStorage
+  // synchronization issues between different browsing contexts, however
+  // it's intended to avoid IE8 specific bugs from being introduced.
+  // see issue #1637
+  function setDefaultValues() {
+    _.each({
+      emailToUserID: {},
+      emails: {},
+      interaction_data: {},
+      loggedIn: {},
+      main_site: {},
+      managePage: {},
+      returnTo: null,
+      siteInfo: {},
+      stagedOnBehalfOf: null,
+      usersComputer: {}
+    }, function(defaultVal, key) {
+      if (!storage[key]) {
+        storage[key] = JSON.stringify(defaultVal);
+      }
+    });
+  }
+
   function getEmails() {
     try {
       var emails = JSON.parse(storage.emails || "{}");
@@ -567,6 +590,13 @@ BrowserID.Storage = (function() {
      */
     clear: clear,
     setReturnTo: setReturnTo,
-    getReturnTo: getReturnTo
+    getReturnTo: getReturnTo,
+    /**
+     * Set all used storage values to default if they are unset.  This function
+     * is required for proper localStorage sync between different browsing contexts,
+     * see issue #1637 for full details.
+     * @method setDefaultValues
+     */
+    setDefaultValues: setDefaultValues
   };
 }());