diff --git a/src/ng/templateRequest.js b/src/ng/templateRequest.js
index e65a8f97d244..edbe8cebd670 100644
--- a/src/ng/templateRequest.js
+++ b/src/ng/templateRequest.js
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@ var $compileMinErr = minErr('$compile');
 function $TemplateRequestProvider() {
   this.$get = ['$templateCache', '$http', '$q', function($templateCache, $http, $q) {
     function handleRequestFn(tpl, ignoreRequestError) {
-      var self = handleRequestFn;
-      self.totalPendingRequests++;
+      handleRequestFn.totalPendingRequests++;
 
       var transformResponse = $http.defaults && $http.defaults.transformResponse;
 
@@ -41,13 +40,14 @@ function $TemplateRequestProvider() {
       };
 
       return $http.get(tpl, httpOptions)
+        .finally(function() {
+          handleRequestFn.totalPendingRequests--;
+        })
         .then(function(response) {
-          self.totalPendingRequests--;
           return response.data;
         }, handleError);
 
       function handleError(resp) {
-        self.totalPendingRequests--;
         if (!ignoreRequestError) {
           throw $compileMinErr('tpload', 'Failed to load template: {0} (HTTP status: {1} {2})',
             tpl, resp.status, resp.statusText);