 As requested by ProLoser here is a demo and github ticket. Demo: http://plnkr.co/edit/DgpGyegQxVm0zH0dZIJZ?p=preview GitHub Issue: https://github.com/angular-ui/angular-ui/issues/000 Following ProLoser's advice I started using select0's initSelection function: initSelection : function (element, callback) {   callback($(element).data('$ngModelController').$modelValue); },  It does the trick but still feels like a workaround.