diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
index 815894144a..f1f79d8378 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ module Rails
       DATABASES.concat(JDBC_DATABASES)
 
       attr_accessor :rails_template
-      attr_accessor :app_template
       add_shebang_option!
 
       argument :app_path, type: :string
@@ -27,9 +26,6 @@ module Rails
         class_option :template,           type: :string, aliases: '-m',
                                           desc: "Path to some #{name} template (can be a filesystem path or URL)"
 
-        class_option :app_template,       type: :string, aliases: '-n',
-                                          desc: "Path to some #{name} template (can be a filesystem path or URL)"
-
         class_option :skip_gemfile,       type: :boolean, default: false,
                                           desc: "Don't create a Gemfile"
 
@@ -126,10 +122,6 @@ module Rails
         }.curry[@gem_filter]
       end
 
-      def remove_gem(name)
-        add_gem_entry_filter { |gem| gem.name != name }
-      end
-
       def builder
         @builder ||= begin
           builder_class = get_builder_class
@@ -149,92 +141,21 @@ module Rails
         FileUtils.cd(destination_root) unless options[:pretend]
       end
 
-      class TemplateRecorder < ::BasicObject # :nodoc:
-        attr_reader :gems
-
-        def initialize(target)
-          @target         = target
-          # unfortunately, instance eval has access to these ivars
-          @app_const      = target.send :app_const if target.respond_to?(:app_const, true)
-          @app_const_base = target.send :app_const_base if target.respond_to?(:app_const_base, true)
-          @app_name       = target.send :app_name if target.respond_to?(:app_name, true)
-          @commands       = []
-          @gems           = []
-        end
-
-        def gemfile_entry(*args)
-          @target.send :gemfile_entry, *args
-        end
-
-        def add_gem_entry_filter(*args, &block)
-          @target.send :add_gem_entry_filter, *args, &block
-        end
-
-        def remove_gem(*args, &block)
-          @target.send :remove_gem, *args, &block
-        end
-
-        def method_missing(name, *args, &block)
-          @commands << [name, args, block]
-        end
-
-        def respond_to_missing?(method, priv = false)
-          super || @target.respond_to?(method, priv)
-        end
-
-        def replay!
-          @commands.each do |name, args, block|
-            @target.send name, *args, &block
-          end
-        end
-      end
-
       def apply_rails_template
-        @recorder = TemplateRecorder.new self
-
-        apply(rails_template, target: self) if rails_template
-        apply(app_template, target: @recorder) if app_template
+        apply rails_template if rails_template
       rescue Thor::Error, LoadError, Errno::ENOENT => e
         raise Error, "The template [#{rails_template}] could not be loaded. Error: #{e}"
       end
 
-      def replay_template
-        @recorder.replay! if @recorder
-      end
-
-      def apply(path, config={})
-        verbose = config.fetch(:verbose, true)
-        target  = config.fetch(:target, self)
-        is_uri  = path =~ /^https?\:\/\//
-        path    = find_in_source_paths(path) unless is_uri
-
-        say_status :apply, path, verbose
-        shell.padding += 1 if verbose
-
-        if is_uri
-          contents = open(path, "Accept" => "application/x-thor-template") {|io| io.read }
-        else
-          contents = open(path) {|io| io.read }
-        end
-
-        target.instance_eval(contents, path)
-        shell.padding -= 1 if verbose
-      end
-
       def set_default_accessors!
         self.destination_root = File.expand_path(app_path, destination_root)
-        self.rails_template = expand_template options[:template]
-        self.app_template = expand_template options[:app_template]
-      end
-
-      def expand_template(name)
-        case name
-        when /^https?:\/\//
-          name
-        when String
-          File.expand_path(name, Dir.pwd)
-        else
-          name
+        self.rails_template = case options[:template]
+          when /^https?:\/\//
+            options[:template]
+          when String
+            File.expand_path(options[:template], Dir.pwd)
+          else
+            options[:template]
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
index d2eca5b2fb..83cb1dc0d5 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
@@ -166,7 +166,6 @@ module Rails
       end
 
       public_task :set_default_accessors!
-      public_task :apply_rails_template
       public_task :create_root
 
       def create_root_files
@@ -236,8 +235,7 @@ module Rails
         build(:leftovers)
       end
 
-      public_task :run_bundle
-      public_task :replay_template
+      public_task :apply_rails_template, :run_bundle
       public_task :generate_spring_binstubs
 
     protected
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/tasks/framework.rake b/railties/lib/rails/tasks/framework.rake
index 94e8f83e86..e669315934 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/tasks/framework.rake
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/tasks/framework.rake
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ namespace :rails do
     require 'rails/generators'
     require 'rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator'
     generator = Rails::Generators::AppGenerator.new [Rails.root], {}, destination_root: Rails.root
-    generator.send :apply, template, verbose: false
+    generator.apply template, verbose: false
   end
 
   namespace :templates do
diff --git a/railties/test/application/rake/templates_test.rb b/railties/test/application/rake/templates_test.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 1fca80debd..0000000000
--- a/railties/test/application/rake/templates_test.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-require "isolation/abstract_unit"
-
-module ApplicationTests
-  module RakeTests
-    class TemplatesTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
-      include ActiveSupport::Testing::Isolation
-
-      def setup
-        build_app
-        require "rails/all"
-        super
-      end
-
-      def teardown
-        super
-        teardown_app
-      end
-
-      def test_rake_template
-        Dir.chdir(app_path) do
-          cmd = "bundle exec rake rails:template LOCATION=foo"
-          r,w = IO.pipe
-          Process.waitpid Process.spawn(cmd, out: w, err: w)
-          w.close
-          assert_match(/Could not find.*foo/, r.read)
-          r.close
-        end
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
-
diff --git a/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb b/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb
index ddecee2ca1..5811379e35 100644
--- a/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb
+++ b/railties/test/generators/app_generator_test.rb
@@ -163,73 +163,6 @@ class AppGeneratorTest < Rails::Generators::TestCase
     end
   end
 
-  def test_arbitrary_code
-    output = Tempfile.open('my_template') do |template|
-      template.puts 'puts "You are using Rails version #{Rails::VERSION::STRING}."'
-      template.close
-      run_generator([destination_root, "-m", template.path])
-    end
-    assert_match 'You are using', output
-  end
-
-  def test_add_gemfile_entry
-    Tempfile.open('my_template') do |template|
-      template.puts 'gemfile_entry "tenderlove"'
-      template.flush
-      template.close
-      run_generator([destination_root, "-n", template.path])
-      assert_file "Gemfile", /tenderlove/
-    end
-  end
-
-  def test_add_skip_entry
-    Tempfile.open 'my_template' do |template|
-      template.puts 'add_gem_entry_filter { |gem| gem.name != "jbuilder" }'
-      template.close
-
-      run_generator([destination_root, "-n", template.path])
-      assert_file "Gemfile" do |contents|
-        assert_no_match 'jbuilder', contents
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  def test_remove_gem
-    Tempfile.open 'my_template' do |template|
-      template.puts 'remove_gem "jbuilder"'
-      template.close
-
-      run_generator([destination_root, "-n", template.path])
-      assert_file "Gemfile" do |contents|
-        assert_no_match 'jbuilder', contents
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
-  def test_skip_turbolinks_when_it_is_not_on_gemfile
-    Tempfile.open 'my_template' do |template|
-      template.puts 'add_gem_entry_filter { |gem| gem.name != "turbolinks" }'
-      template.flush
-
-      run_generator([destination_root, "-n", template.path])
-      assert_file "Gemfile" do |contents|
-        assert_no_match 'turbolinks', contents
-      end
-
-      assert_file "app/views/layouts/application.html.erb" do |contents|
-        assert_no_match 'turbolinks', contents
-      end
-
-      assert_file "app/views/layouts/application.html.erb" do |contents|
-        assert_no_match('data-turbolinks-track', contents)
-      end
-
-      assert_file "app/assets/javascripts/application.js" do |contents|
-        assert_no_match 'turbolinks', contents
-      end
-    end
-  end
-
   def test_config_another_database
     run_generator([destination_root, "-d", "mysql"])
     assert_file "config/database.yml", /mysql/
diff --git a/railties/test/generators/generator_test.rb b/railties/test/generators/generator_test.rb
index 94d2c1bf50..7871399dd7 100644
--- a/railties/test/generators/generator_test.rb
+++ b/railties/test/generators/generator_test.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 require 'active_support/test_case'
 require 'active_support/testing/autorun'
 require 'rails/generators/app_base'
-require 'rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator'
 
 module Rails
   module Generators