         registerClassAlias("ViewDescriptor", ViewDescriptor);
         registerClassAlias("NavigationStack", NavigationStack);
 
-        // Initialize and load the persisted data
+        // Initialize and load the persisted data.  The persistence manager
+        // will automatically be allocated in the persistenceManager getter
+        // called below
         persistenceManager.load();
 
         _persistenceInitialized = true;

        
        if (persistNavigatorState)
        {
            // Dispatch event for loading persistence data
            var eventDispatched:Boolean = true;
            if (hasEventListener(FlexEvent.NAVIGATOR_STATE_LOADING))

    {
        _persistNavigatorState = value;

        // If this flag is set to true at runtime, we will need to initialize
        // the persistence manager if it hasn't been already
        if (initialized && _persistNavigatorState && !_persistenceInitialized)
            initializePersistenceManager();
    }
    
