diff --git a/railties/CHANGELOG b/railties/CHANGELOG
index e058b624b5..9bdf41731b 100644
--- a/railties/CHANGELOG
+++ b/railties/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *Rails 3.1.0 (unreleased)*
 
+* Application and plugin generation run bundle check unless --skip-gemfile. [fxn]
+
 * Fixed database tasks for jdbc* adapters #jruby
 
   [Rashmi Yadav]
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
index e8709b2ddd..5d4afc8102 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
@@ -184,9 +184,20 @@ module Rails
         "gem '#{options[:javascript]}-rails'" unless options[:skip_javascript]
       end
 
-      def bundle_if_dev_or_edge
-        bundle_command = File.basename(Thor::Util.ruby_command).sub(/ruby/, 'bundle')
-        run "#{bundle_command} install" if dev_or_edge?
+      def bundle_command(command)
+        # We use backticks and #print here instead of vanilla #system because it
+        # is easier to silence stdout in the existing test suite this way. The
+        # end-user gets the bundler commands called anyway.
+        #
+        # Thanks to James Tucker for the Gem tricks involved in this call.
+        print `"#{Gem.ruby}" -rubygems "#{Gem.bin_path('bundler', 'bundle')}" #{command}`
+      end
+
+      def run_bundle
+        unless options[:skip_gemfile]
+          command = dev_or_edge? ? 'install' : 'check'
+          bundle_command(command)
+        end
       end
 
       def dev_or_edge?
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
index ed3bf15ca9..03c74143d0 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/app/app_generator.rb
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ module Rails
         build(:leftovers)
       end
 
-      public_task :apply_rails_template, :bundle_if_dev_or_edge
+      public_task :apply_rails_template, :run_bundle
 
     protected
 
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/plugin_new_generator.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/plugin_new_generator.rb
index 6201595308..939c0cd727 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/plugin_new_generator.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/plugin_new_generator.rb
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ task :default => :test
         build(:leftovers)
       end
 
-      public_task :apply_rails_template, :bundle_if_dev_or_edge
+      public_task :apply_rails_template, :run_bundle
 
     protected
 
diff --git a/railties/test/generators/plugin_new_generator_test.rb b/railties/test/generators/plugin_new_generator_test.rb
index f637a6a17e..673856c34d 100644
--- a/railties/test/generators/plugin_new_generator_test.rb
+++ b/railties/test/generators/plugin_new_generator_test.rb
@@ -119,17 +119,17 @@ class PluginNewGeneratorTest < Rails::Generators::TestCase
     assert_match(/It works from file!/, run_generator([destination_root, "-m", "lib/template.rb"]))
   end
 
-  def test_ensure_that_tests_works
+  def test_ensure_that_tests_work
     run_generator
     FileUtils.cd destination_root
-    `bundle install`
+    `bundle install` # use backticks to silence stdout
     assert_match(/1 tests, 1 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors/, `bundle exec rake test`)
   end
 
   def test_ensure_that_tests_works_in_full_mode
     run_generator [destination_root, "--full", "--skip_active_record"]
     FileUtils.cd destination_root
-    `bundle install`
+    `bundle install` # use backticks to silence stdout
     assert_match(/1 tests, 1 assertions, 0 failures, 0 errors/, `bundle exec rake test`)
   end
 
diff --git a/railties/test/generators/shared_generator_tests.rb b/railties/test/generators/shared_generator_tests.rb
index 3fcf75883c..524aa2a05f 100644
--- a/railties/test/generators/shared_generator_tests.rb
+++ b/railties/test/generators/shared_generator_tests.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ module SharedGeneratorTests
     Rails.application = TestApp::Application
     super
     Rails::Generators::AppGenerator.instance_variable_set('@desc', nil)
-    @bundle_command = File.basename(Thor::Util.ruby_command).sub(/ruby/, 'bundle')
 
     Kernel::silence_warnings do
       Thor::Base.shell.send(:attr_accessor, :always_force)
@@ -24,7 +23,12 @@ module SharedGeneratorTests
   def test_skeleton_is_created
     run_generator
 
-    default_files.each{ |path| assert_file path }
+    default_files.each { |path| assert_file path }
+  end
+
+  def test_generation_runs_bundle_check
+    generator([destination_root]).expects(:bundle_command).with('check').once
+    silence(:stdout) { generator.invoke_all }
   end
 
   def test_plugin_new_generate_pretend
@@ -112,17 +116,23 @@ module SharedGeneratorTests
   end
 
   def test_dev_option
-    generator([destination_root], :dev => true).expects(:run).with("#{@bundle_command} install")
-    silence(:stdout){ generator.invoke_all }
+    generator([destination_root], :dev => true).expects(:bundle_command).with('install').once
+    silence(:stdout) { generator.invoke_all }
     rails_path = File.expand_path('../../..', Rails.root)
     assert_file 'Gemfile', /^gem\s+["']rails["'],\s+:path\s+=>\s+["']#{Regexp.escape(rails_path)}["']$/
   end
 
   def test_edge_option
-    generator([destination_root], :edge => true).expects(:run).with("#{@bundle_command} install")
-    silence(:stdout){ generator.invoke_all }
+    generator([destination_root], :edge => true).expects(:bundle_command).with('install').once
+    silence(:stdout) { generator.invoke_all }
     assert_file 'Gemfile', %r{^gem\s+["']rails["'],\s+:git\s+=>\s+["']#{Regexp.escape("git://github.com/rails/rails.git")}["']$}
   end
+
+  def test_skip_gemfile
+    generator([destination_root], :skip_gemfile => true).expects(:bundle_command).never
+    silence(:stdout) { generator.invoke_all }
+    assert_no_file 'Gemfile'
+  end
 end
 
 module SharedCustomGeneratorTests
@@ -130,7 +140,6 @@ module SharedCustomGeneratorTests
     Rails.application = TestApp::Application
     super
     Rails::Generators::AppGenerator.instance_variable_set('@desc', nil)
-    @bundle_command = File.basename(Thor::Util.ruby_command).sub(/ruby/, 'bundle')
   end
 
   def teardown