1 files changed, 26 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/application.rb b/railties/lib/rails/application.rb
index c5fd08e743..61639be7c6 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/application.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/application.rb
@@ -87,7 +87,15 @@ module Rails
     class << self
       def inherited(base)
         super
-        base.instance
+        Rails.app_class = base
+      end
+
+      def instance
+        super.run_load_hooks!
+      end
+
+      def create(initial_variable_values = {}, &block)
+        new(initial_variable_values, &block).run_load_hooks!
       end
 
       # Makes the +new+ method public.
@@ -116,24 +124,33 @@ module Rails
       @ordered_railties  = nil
       @railties          = nil
       @message_verifiers = {}
+      @ran_load_hooks    = false
 
-      Rails.application ||= self
+      # are these actually used?
+      @initial_variable_values = initial_variable_values
+      @block = block
 
       add_lib_to_load_path!
+    end
+
+    # Returns true if the application is initialized.
+    def initialized?
+      @initialized
+    end
+
+    def run_load_hooks! # :nodoc:
+      return self if @ran_load_hooks
+      @ran_load_hooks = true
       ActiveSupport.run_load_hooks(:before_configuration, self)
 
-      initial_variable_values.each do |variable_name, value|
+      @initial_variable_values.each do |variable_name, value|
         if INITIAL_VARIABLES.include?(variable_name)
           instance_variable_set("@#{variable_name}", value)
         end
       end
 
-      instance_eval(&block) if block_given?
-    end
-
-    # Returns true if the application is initialized.
-    def initialized?
-      @initialized
+      instance_eval(&@block) if @block
+      self
     end
 
     # Implements call according to the Rack API. It simply