diff --git a/mithril.js b/mithril.js
index 2ba7d1f0..fe994854 100644
--- a/mithril.js
+++ b/mithril.js
@@ -734,12 +734,9 @@ var m = (function app(window, undefined) {
 		return str.join("&")
 	}
 	function parseQueryString(str) {
-		if (str[0] === "?") {
-			str = str.substring(1);
-		}
-
-		var pairs = str.split("&"), 
-			params = {};
+		if (str.charAt(0) === "?") str = str.substring(1);
+		
+		var pairs = str.split("&"), params = {};
 		for (var i = 0, len = pairs.length; i < len; i++) {
 			var pair = pairs[i].split("=");
 			var key = decodeURIComponent(pair[0])