diff --git a/lib/static.js b/lib/static.js
index 1e525a0712..858e39abc9 100644
--- a/lib/static.js
+++ b/lib/static.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ exports.load = function(content, options) {
   initialize.prototype = Cheerio.prototype;
 
   // Add in the static methods
-  initialize.__proto__ = exports;
+  _.merge(initialize, exports);
 
   // Add in the root
   initialize._root = root;
diff --git a/test/cheerio.js b/test/cheerio.js
index 46944ea68d..954d54a453 100644
--- a/test/cheerio.js
+++ b/test/cheerio.js
@@ -284,5 +284,11 @@ describe('cheerio', function() {
       expect(domEncoded('footer').html()).to.be(expectedXml);
     });
 
+    it('should return a fully-qualified Function', function() {
+      var $c = $.load('<div>');
+
+      expect($c).to.be.a(Function);
+    });
+
   });
 });