diff --git a/tailbone/views/master.py b/tailbone/views/master.py
index 89f6e524..611e59f5 100644
--- a/tailbone/views/master.py
+++ b/tailbone/views/master.py
@@ -694,8 +694,10 @@ class MasterView(View):
         Returns the unique key to be used for the grid, for caching sort/filter
         options etc.
         """
-        # TODO: default here should probably come from route_prefix instead?
-        return getattr(cls, 'grid_key', '{0}s'.format(cls.get_normalized_model_name()))
+        if hasattr(cls, 'grid_key'):
+            return cls.grid_key
+        # default previously came from cls.get_normalized_model_name() but this is hopefully better
+        return cls.get_route_prefix()
 
     def make_grid_kwargs(self, **kwargs):
         """