diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb
index 9374a7f060..e91babde10 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/dispatcher.rb
@@ -88,16 +88,15 @@ module ActionController
     end
 
     def reload_application
+      # Cleanup the application before processing the current request.
+      ActiveRecord::Base.reset_subclasses if defined?(ActiveRecord)
+      ActiveSupport::Dependencies.clear
+      ActiveRecord::Base.clear_reloadable_connections! if defined?(ActiveRecord)
+
       # Run prepare callbacks before every request in development mode
       run_callbacks :prepare_dispatch
 
       Routing::Routes.reload
-
-      # Cleanup the application by clearing out loaded classes so they can
-      # be reloaded on the next request without restarting the server.
-      ActiveRecord::Base.reset_subclasses if defined?(ActiveRecord)
-      ActiveSupport::Dependencies.clear
-      ActiveRecord::Base.clear_reloadable_connections! if defined?(ActiveRecord)
     end
 
     def flush_logger