diff --git a/react-sortable-mixin.js b/react-sortable-mixin.js
index fb99379e08c27b393ccaeb90b7895eced70c2381..6f25acc4b7c271a7f04cd4a613bdc9044a50a0d9 100644
--- a/react-sortable-mixin.js
+++ b/react-sortable-mixin.js
@@ -44,7 +44,10 @@
 
 
 	function _getModelItems(component) {
-		return component.state[_getModelName(component)].slice();
+		var name = _getModelName(component),
+			items = component.state && component.state[name] || component.props[name];
+
+		return items.slice();
 	}