diff --git a/packages/vue-apollo/src/index.js b/packages/vue-apollo/src/index.js
index 40b26f64..48ad045b 100644
--- a/packages/vue-apollo/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/vue-apollo/src/index.js
@@ -38,14 +38,16 @@ export function install (Vue, options) {
   }
 
   // Lazy creation
-  Object.defineProperty(Vue.prototype, '$apollo', {
-    get () {
-      if (!this.$_apollo) {
-        this.$_apollo = new DollarApollo(this)
-      }
-      return this.$_apollo
-    },
-  })
+  if (!Vue.prototype.hasOwnProperty('$apollo')) {
+    Object.defineProperty(Vue.prototype, '$apollo', {
+      get () {
+        if (!this.$_apollo) {
+          this.$_apollo = new DollarApollo(this)
+        }
+        return this.$_apollo
+      },
+    })
+  }
 
   installMixin(Vue, vueVersion)