diff --git a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/base.py b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/base.py
index 61598d13..7b9918f9 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/base.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/base.py
@@ -104,22 +104,17 @@ class APIHandler(BaseHandler):
             'pending': None,
             'last_activity': user.last_activity.isoformat(),
         }
-        if user.spawners['']._spawn_pending:
-            model['pending'] = 'spawn'
-        elif user.spawners['']._stop_pending:
-            model['pending'] = 'stop'
+        model['pending'] = user.spawners[''].pending or None
 
         if self.allow_named_servers:
             servers = model['servers'] = {}
             for name, spawner in user.spawners.items():
                 if spawner.ready:
                     servers[name] = s = {'name': name}
-                    if spawner._spawn_pending:
-                        s['pending'] = 'spawn'
-                    elif spawner._stop_pending:
-                        s['pending'] = 'stop'
+                    if spawner.pending:
+                        s['pending'] = spawner.pending
                     if spawner.server:
-                        s['url'] = user.url + name
+                        s['url'] = user.url + name + '/'
         return model
 
     def group_model(self, group):
diff --git a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py
index 23b23598..63b9e995 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/apihandlers/users.py
@@ -178,19 +178,34 @@ class UserAPIHandler(APIHandler):
 
 class UserServerAPIHandler(APIHandler):
     """Start and stop single-user servers"""
+
     @gen.coroutine
     @admin_or_self
     def post(self, name, server_name=''):
         user = self.find_user(name)
-        if server_name:
-            if not self.allow_named_servers:
-                raise web.HTTPError(400, "Named servers are not enabled.")
+        if server_name and not self.allow_named_servers:
+            raise web.HTTPError(400, "Named servers are not enabled.")
+        if self.allow_named_servers and not server_name:
+            server_name = user.default_server_name()
         spawner = user.spawners[server_name]
+        pending = spawner.pending
+        if pending == 'spawn':
+            self.set_header('Content-Type', 'text/plain')
+            self.set_status(202)
+            return
+        elif pending:
+            raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s is pending %s" % (spawner._log_name, pending))
+
         if spawner.ready:
             # include notify, so that a server that died is noticed immediately
-            state = yield spawner.poll_and_notify()
+            # set _spawn_pending flag to prevent races while we wait
+            spawner._spawn_pending = True
+            try:
+                state = yield spawner.poll_and_notify()
+            finally:
+                spawner._spawn_pending = False
             if state is None:
-                raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s's server %s is already running" % (name, server_name))
+                raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s is already running" % spawner._log_name)
 
         options = self.get_json_body()
         yield self.spawn_single_user(user, server_name, options=options)
@@ -209,17 +224,18 @@ class UserServerAPIHandler(APIHandler):
                 raise web.HTTPError(404, "%s has no server named '%s'" % (name, server_name))
 
         spawner = user.spawners[server_name]
-
-        if spawner._stop_pending:
+        if spawner.pending == 'stop':
+            self.log.debug("%s already stopping", spawner._log_name)
             self.set_header('Content-Type', 'text/plain')
             self.set_status(202)
             return
+
         if not spawner.ready:
-            raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s's server %s is not running" % (name, server_name))
+            raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s is not running" % spawner._log_name)
         # include notify, so that a server that died is noticed immediately
         status = yield spawner.poll_and_notify()
         if status is not None:
-            raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s's server %s is not running" % (name, server_name))
+            raise web.HTTPError(400, "%s is not running" % spawner._log_name)
         yield self.stop_single_user(user, server_name)
         status = 202 if spawner._stop_pending else 204
         self.set_header('Content-Type', 'text/plain')
diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
index 3f42bbb7..6d0ba398 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers/base.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from .. import __version__
 from .. import orm
 from ..objects import Server
 from ..spawner import LocalProcessSpawner
-from ..utils import url_path_join, exponential_backoff
+from ..utils import default_server_name, url_path_join, exponential_backoff
 
 # pattern for the authentication token header
 auth_header_pat = re.compile(r'^(?:token|bearer)\s+([^\s]+)$', flags=re.IGNORECASE)
@@ -376,8 +376,16 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
 
     @gen.coroutine
     def spawn_single_user(self, user, server_name='', options=None):
-        if server_name in user.spawners and user.spawners[server_name].pending == 'spawn':
-            raise RuntimeError("Spawn already pending for: %s" % user.name)
+        user_server_name = user.name
+        if self.allow_named_servers and not server_name:
+            server_name = default_server_name(user)
+
+        if server_name:
+            user_server_name = '%s:%s' % (user.name, server_name)
+
+        if server_name in user.spawners and user.spawners[server_name].pending:
+            pending = user.spawners[server_name].pending
+            raise RuntimeError("%s pending %s" % (user_server_name, pending))
 
         # count active servers and pending spawns
         # we could do careful bookkeeping to avoid
@@ -391,32 +399,26 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
         active_server_limit = self.active_server_limit
 
         if concurrent_spawn_limit and spawn_pending_count >= concurrent_spawn_limit:
-                self.log.info(
-                    '%s pending spawns, throttling',
-                    spawn_pending_count,
-                )
-                raise web.HTTPError(
-                    429,
-                    "User startup rate limit exceeded. Try again in a few minutes.")
+            self.log.info(
+                '%s pending spawns, throttling',
+                spawn_pending_count,
+            )
+            raise web.HTTPError(
+                429,
+                "User startup rate limit exceeded. Try again in a few minutes.",
+            )
         if active_server_limit and active_count >= active_server_limit:
-                self.log.info(
-                    '%s servers active, no space available',
-                    active_count,
-                )
-                raise web.HTTPError(
-                    429,
-                    "Active user limit exceeded. Try again in a few minutes.")
+            self.log.info(
+                '%s servers active, no space available',
+                active_count,
+            )
+            raise web.HTTPError(429, "Active user limit exceeded. Try again in a few minutes.")
 
         tic = IOLoop.current().time()
-        user_server_name = user.name
-        if server_name:
-            user_server_name = '%s:%s' % (user.name, server_name)
-        else:
-            user_server_name = user.name
 
         self.log.debug("Initiating spawn for %s", user_server_name)
 
-        f = user.spawn(server_name, options)
+        spawn_future = user.spawn(server_name, options)
 
         self.log.debug("%i%s concurrent spawns",
             spawn_pending_count,
@@ -426,22 +428,28 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
             '/%i' % active_server_limit if active_server_limit else '')
 
         spawner = user.spawners[server_name]
+        # set spawn_pending now, so there's no gap where _spawn_pending is False
+        # while we are waiting for _proxy_pending to be set
+        spawner._spawn_pending = True
 
         @gen.coroutine
-        def finish_user_spawn(f=None):
+        def finish_user_spawn():
             """Finish the user spawn by registering listeners and notifying the proxy.
 
             If the spawner is slow to start, this is passed as an async callback,
             otherwise it is called immediately.
             """
-            if f and f.exception() is not None:
-                # failed, don't add to the proxy
-                return
+            # wait for spawn Future
+            try:
+                yield spawn_future
+            except Exception:
+                spawner._spawn_pending = False
+                raise
             toc = IOLoop.current().time()
             self.log.info("User %s took %.3f seconds to start", user_server_name, toc-tic)
             self.statsd.timing('spawner.success', (toc - tic) * 1000)
+            spawner._proxy_pending = True
             try:
-                spawner._proxy_pending = True
                 yield self.proxy.add_user(user, server_name)
             except Exception:
                 self.log.exception("Failed to add %s to proxy!", user_server_name)
@@ -451,37 +459,41 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
                 spawner.add_poll_callback(self.user_stopped, user, server_name)
             finally:
                 spawner._proxy_pending = False
+                spawner._spawn_pending = False
 
         try:
-            yield gen.with_timeout(timedelta(seconds=self.slow_spawn_timeout), f)
+            yield gen.with_timeout(timedelta(seconds=self.slow_spawn_timeout), finish_user_spawn())
         except gen.TimeoutError:
             # waiting_for_response indicates server process has started,
             # but is yet to become responsive.
-            if not spawner._waiting_for_response:
+            if spawner._spawn_pending and not spawner._waiting_for_response:
                 # still in Spawner.start, which is taking a long time
                 # we shouldn't poll while spawn is incomplete.
                 self.log.warning("User %s is slow to start (timeout=%s)",
-                    user_server_name, self.slow_spawn_timeout)
-                # schedule finish for when the user finishes spawning
-                IOLoop.current().add_future(f, finish_user_spawn)
-            else:
-                # start has finished, but the server hasn't come up
-                # check if the server died while we were waiting
-                status = yield user.spawner.poll()
-                if status is None:
-                    # hit timeout, but server's running. Hope that it'll show up soon enough,
-                    # though it's possible that it started at the wrong URL
-                    self.log.warning("User %s is slow to become responsive (timeout=%s)",
-                        user_server_name, self.slow_spawn_timeout)
-                    self.log.debug("Expecting server for %s at: %s", user_server_name, spawner.server.url)
-                    # schedule finish for when the user finishes spawning
-                    IOLoop.current().add_future(f, finish_user_spawn)
-                else:
-                    toc = IOLoop.current().time()
-                    self.statsd.timing('spawner.failure', (toc - tic) * 1000)
-                    raise web.HTTPError(500, "Spawner failed to start [status=%s]" % status)
-        else:
-            yield finish_user_spawn()
+                                 user_server_name, self.slow_spawn_timeout)
+                return
+
+            # start has finished, but the server hasn't come up
+            # check if the server died while we were waiting
+            status = yield spawner.poll()
+            if status is not None:
+                toc = IOLoop.current().time()
+                self.statsd.timing('spawner.failure', (toc - tic) * 1000)
+                raise web.HTTPError(500, "Spawner failed to start [status=%s]" % status)
+
+            if spawner._waiting_for_response:
+                # hit timeout waiting for response, but server's running.
+                # Hope that it'll show up soon enough,
+                # though it's possible that it started at the wrong URL
+                self.log.warning("User %s is slow to become responsive (timeout=%s)",
+                                 user_server_name, self.slow_spawn_timeout)
+                self.log.debug("Expecting server for %s at: %s",
+                               user_server_name, spawner.server.url)
+            if spawner._proxy_pending:
+                # User.spawn finished, but it hasn't been added to the proxy
+                # Could be due to load or a slow proxy
+                self.log.warning("User %s is slow to be added to the proxy (timeout=%s)",
+                                 user_server_name, self.slow_spawn_timeout)
 
     @gen.coroutine
     def user_stopped(self, user, server_name):
@@ -501,36 +513,37 @@ class BaseHandler(RequestHandler):
         if name not in user.spawners:
             raise KeyError("User %s has no such spawner %r", user.name, name)
         spawner = user.spawners[name]
-        if spawner._stop_pending:
-            raise RuntimeError("Stop already pending for: %s:%s" % (user.name, name))
-        tic = IOLoop.current().time()
-        yield self.proxy.delete_user(user, name)
-        f = user.stop()
-        @gen.coroutine
-        def finish_stop(f=None):
-            """Finish the stop action by noticing that the user is stopped.
+        if spawner.pending:
+            raise RuntimeError("%s pending %s" % (user_server_name, spawner.pending))
+        # set user._stop_pending before doing anything async
+        # to avoid races
+        spawner._stop_pending = True
 
-            If the spawner is slow to stop, this is passed as an async callback,
-            otherwise it is called immediately.
+        @gen.coroutine
+        def stop():
+            """Stop the server
+
+            1. remove it from the proxy
+            2. stop the server
+            3. notice that it stopped
             """
-            if f and f.exception() is not None:
-                # failed, don't do anything
-                return
+            tic = IOLoop.current().time()
+            try:
+                yield self.proxy.delete_user(user, name)
+                yield user.stop(name)
+            finally:
+                spawner._stop_pending = False
             toc = IOLoop.current().time()
-            self.log.info("User %s server took %.3f seconds to stop", user.name, toc-tic)
+            self.log.info("User %s server took %.3f seconds to stop", user.name, toc - tic)
 
         try:
-            yield gen.with_timeout(timedelta(seconds=self.slow_stop_timeout), f)
+            yield gen.with_timeout(timedelta(seconds=self.slow_stop_timeout), stop())
         except gen.TimeoutError:
             if spawner._stop_pending:
                 # hit timeout, but stop is still pending
                 self.log.warning("User %s:%s server is slow to stop", user.name, name)
-                # schedule finish for when the server finishes stopping
-                IOLoop.current().add_future(f, finish_stop)
             else:
                 raise
-        else:
-            yield finish_stop()
 
     #---------------------------------------------------------------
     # template rendering
@@ -653,7 +666,8 @@ class UserSpawnHandler(BaseHandler):
 
             # logged in as correct user, spawn the server
             spawner = current_user.spawner
-            if spawner._spawn_pending or spawner._proxy_pending:
+            if spawner.pending:
+                self.log.info("%s is pending %s", spawner._log_name, spawner.pending)
                 # spawn has started, but not finished
                 self.statsd.incr('redirects.user_spawn_pending', 1)
                 html = self.render_template("spawn_pending.html", user=current_user)
diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers/login.py b/jupyterhub/handlers/login.py
index e9fe631c..2f934e79 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers/login.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers/login.py
@@ -84,10 +84,11 @@ class LoginHandler(BaseHandler):
 
         if user:
             already_running = False
-            if user.spawner:
+            if user.spawner.ready:
                 status = yield user.spawner.poll()
                 already_running = (status is None)
-            if not already_running and not user.spawner.options_form:
+            if not already_running and not user.spawner.options_form \
+                    and not user.spawner.pending:
                 # logging in triggers spawn
                 yield self.spawn_single_user(user)
             self.redirect(self.get_next_url())
diff --git a/jupyterhub/handlers/pages.py b/jupyterhub/handlers/pages.py
index d3f40cc3..7e51fb23 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/handlers/pages.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/handlers/pages.py
@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ class SpawnHandler(BaseHandler):
             self.log.warning("User is already running: %s", url)
             self.redirect(url)
             return
+        if user.spawner.pending:
+            raise web.HTTPError(
+                400, "%s is pending %s" % (user.spawner._log_name, user.spawner.pending)
+            )
         form_options = {}
         for key, byte_list in self.request.body_arguments.items():
             form_options[key] = [ bs.decode('utf8') for bs in byte_list ]
diff --git a/jupyterhub/proxy.py b/jupyterhub/proxy.py
index aeda86a8..bda7dd44 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/proxy.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/proxy.py
@@ -231,9 +231,10 @@ class Proxy(LoggingConfigurable):
                       user.name, spawner.proxy_spec, spawner.server.host,
                       )
 
-        if spawner._spawn_pending:
+        if spawner.pending and spawner.pending != 'spawn':
             raise RuntimeError(
-                "User %s's spawn is pending, shouldn't be added to the proxy yet!", user.name)
+                "%s is pending %s, shouldn't be added to the proxy yet!" % (spawner._log_name, spawner.pending)
+            )
 
         yield self.add_route(
             spawner.proxy_spec,
@@ -326,7 +327,7 @@ class Proxy(LoggingConfigurable):
                                 spec, route['target'], spawner.server,
                             )
                             futures.append(self.add_user(user, name))
-                elif spawner._proxy_pending:
+                elif spawner._spawn_pending:
                     good_routes.add(spawner.proxy_spec)
 
         # check service routes
diff --git a/jupyterhub/spawner.py b/jupyterhub/spawner.py
index d9312c38..df717f53 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/spawner.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/spawner.py
@@ -49,17 +49,29 @@ class Spawner(LoggingConfigurable):
     
     # private attributes for tracking status
     _spawn_pending = False
+    _start_pending = False
     _stop_pending = False
     _proxy_pending = False
     _waiting_for_response = False
 
+    @property
+    def _log_name(self):
+        """Return username:servername or username
+
+        Used in logging for consistency with named servers.
+        """
+        if self.name:
+            return '%s:%s' % (self.user.name, self.name)
+        else:
+            return self.user.name
+
     @property
     def pending(self):
         """Return the current pending event, if any
 
         Return False if nothing is pending.
         """
-        if self._spawn_pending or self._proxy_pending:
+        if self._spawn_pending:
             return 'spawn'
         elif self._stop_pending:
             return 'stop'
diff --git a/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py b/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py
index 5115766d..1ffd7fe3 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/tests/test_named_servers.py
@@ -38,6 +38,27 @@ def test_create_named_server(app, named_servers):
     assert prefix == user.spawners[servername].server.base_url
     assert prefix.endswith('/user/%s/%s/' % (username, servername))
 
+    r = yield api_request(app, 'users', username)
+    r.raise_for_status()
+
+    user_model = r.json()
+    user_model.pop('last_activity')
+    assert user_model == {
+        'name': username,
+        'groups': [],
+        'kind': 'user',
+        'admin': False,
+        'pending': None,
+        'server': None,
+        'servers': {
+            name: {
+                'name': name,
+                'url': url_path_join(user.url, name, '/'),
+            }
+            for name in ['1', servername]
+        },
+    }
+
 
 @pytest.mark.gen_test
 def test_delete_named_server(app, named_servers):
@@ -69,9 +90,9 @@ def test_delete_named_server(app, named_servers):
         'servers': {
             name: {
                 'name': name,
-                'url': url_path_join(user.url, name),
+                'url': url_path_join(user.url, name, '/'),
             }
-            for name in ['1', servername]
+            for name in ['1']
         },
     }
 
diff --git a/jupyterhub/user.py b/jupyterhub/user.py
index c9f3284e..701cbbc1 100644
--- a/jupyterhub/user.py
+++ b/jupyterhub/user.py
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ class User(HasTraits):
     def running(self):
         """property for whether the user's default server is running"""
         return self.spawner.ready
-    
+
     @property
     def active(self):
         """True if any server is active"""
@@ -317,8 +317,6 @@ class User(HasTraits):
         url of the server will be /user/:name/:server_name
         """
         db = self.db
-        if self.allow_named_servers and not server_name:
-            server_name = default_server_name(self)
 
         base_url = url_path_join(self.base_url, server_name) + '/'
 
@@ -368,7 +366,7 @@ class User(HasTraits):
         if (authenticator):
             yield gen.maybe_future(authenticator.pre_spawn_start(self, spawner))
 
-        spawner._spawn_pending = True
+        spawner._start_pending = True
         # wait for spawner.start to return
         try:
             # run optional preparation work to bootstrap the notebook
@@ -434,6 +432,7 @@ class User(HasTraits):
                     user=self.name,
                 ), exc_info=True)
             # raise original exception
+            spawner._start_pending = False
             raise e
         spawner.start_polling()
 
@@ -475,7 +474,7 @@ class User(HasTraits):
             _check_version(__version__, server_version, self.log)
         finally:
             spawner._waiting_for_response = False
-            spawner._spawn_pending = False
+            spawner._start_pending = False
         return self
 
     @gen.coroutine
@@ -486,6 +485,7 @@ class User(HasTraits):
         """
         spawner = self.spawners[server_name]
         spawner._spawn_pending = False
+        spawner._start_pending = False
         spawner.stop_polling()
         spawner._stop_pending = True
         try: