diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/actions.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/actions.rb
index 9c8302a710..9685995afd 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/actions.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/actions.rb
@@ -222,17 +222,13 @@ module Rails
       # the generator or an Array that is joined.
       #
       #   generate(:authenticated, "user session")
-      def generate(*args)
+      def generate(what, *args)
+        log :generate, what
+
         options = args.extract_options!
-        args = Shellwords.split(args.join(" "))
+        options[:abort_on_failure] = !options[:inline]
 
-        log :generate, args.first
-
-        in_root do
-          silence_warnings do
-            ::Rails::Command.invoke("generate", args, options)
-          end
-        end
+        rails_command "generate #{what} #{args.join(" ")}", options
       end
 
       # Runs the supplied rake task (invoked with 'rake ...')
@@ -252,7 +248,17 @@ module Rails
       #   rails_command("gems:install", sudo: true)
       #   rails_command("gems:install", capture: true)
       def rails_command(command, options = {})
-        execute_command :rails, command, options
+        if options[:inline]
+          log :rails, command
+          command, *args = Shellwords.split(command)
+          in_root do
+            silence_warnings do
+              ::Rails::Command.invoke(command, args, options)
+            end
+          end
+        else
+          execute_command :rails, command, options
+        end
       end
 
       # Make an entry in Rails routing file <tt>config/routes.rb</tt>
diff --git a/railties/test/generators/actions_test.rb b/railties/test/generators/actions_test.rb
index 6159b9b8e9..8227a1310a 100644
--- a/railties/test/generators/actions_test.rb
+++ b/railties/test/generators/actions_test.rb
@@ -384,16 +384,28 @@ class ActionsTest < Rails::Generators::TestCase
     assert_file "app/models/my_model.rb", /MyModel/
   end
 
-  test "generate with concatenated arguments" do
+  test "generate should raise on failure" do
     run_generator
-    action :generate, "model MyModel name:string"
+    message = capture(:stderr) do
+      assert_raises SystemExit do
+        action :generate, "model", "1234567890"
+      end
+    end
+    assert_match(/1234567890/, message)
+  end
+
+  test "generate with inline option" do
+    run_generator
+    assert_not_called(generator, :run) do
+      action :generate, "model", "MyModel", inline: true
+    end
     assert_file "app/models/my_model.rb", /MyModel/
   end
 
-  test "generate should raise on failure" do
+  test "generate with inline option should raise on failure" do
     run_generator
     error = assert_raises do
-      action :generate, "model", "1234567890"
+      action :generate, "model", "1234567890", inline: true
     end
     assert_match(/1234567890/, error.message)
   end
@@ -503,6 +515,22 @@ class ActionsTest < Rails::Generators::TestCase
     end
   end
 
+  test "rails_command with inline option" do
+    run_generator
+    assert_not_called(generator, :run) do
+      action :rails_command, "generate model MyModel", inline: true
+    end
+    assert_file "app/models/my_model.rb", /MyModel/
+  end
+
+  test "rails_command with inline option should raise on failure" do
+    run_generator
+    error = assert_raises do
+      action :rails_command, "generate model 1234567890", inline: true
+    end
+    assert_match(/1234567890/, error.message)
+  end
+
   test "route should add route" do
     run_generator
     route_commands = ["get 'foo'", "get 'bar'", "get 'baz'"]