diff --git a/railties/lib/initializer.rb b/railties/lib/initializer.rb
index be04873855..da064c86aa 100644
--- a/railties/lib/initializer.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/initializer.rb
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ module Rails
       if unloaded_gems.size > 0
         @gems_dependencies_loaded = false
         # don't print if the gems rake tasks are being run
-        unless $rails_gem_installer
+        unless $rails_rake_task
           abort <<-end_error
 Missing these required gems:
   #{unloaded_gems.map { |gem| "#{gem.name}  #{gem.requirement}" } * "\n  "}
@@ -379,6 +379,7 @@ Run `rake gems:install` to install the missing gems.
 
     # Eager load application classes
     def load_application_classes
+      return if $rails_rake_task
       if configuration.cache_classes
         configuration.eager_load_paths.each do |load_path|
           matcher = /\A#{Regexp.escape(load_path)}(.*)\.rb\Z/
diff --git a/railties/lib/tasks/gems.rake b/railties/lib/tasks/gems.rake
index 754e3ba5c9..e6731ab78c 100644
--- a/railties/lib/tasks/gems.rake
+++ b/railties/lib/tasks/gems.rake
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ end
 
 namespace :gems do
   task :base do
-    $rails_gem_installer = true
+    $rails_rake_task = true
     Rake::Task[:environment].invoke
   end
 
   desc "Build any native extensions for unpacked gems"
   task :build do
-    $rails_gem_installer = true
+    $rails_rake_task = true
     require 'rails/gem_builder'
     Dir[File.join(Rails::GemDependency.unpacked_path, '*')].each do |gem_dir|
       spec_file = File.join(gem_dir, '.specification')
diff --git a/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake b/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake
index 411750bf40..9e6f96db5b 100644
--- a/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake
+++ b/railties/lib/tasks/misc.rake
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 task :default => :test
 task :environment do
+  $rails_rake_task = true
   require(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 'environment'))
 end