diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/ServletContextApplicationListener.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/ServletContextApplicationListener.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..619b790708
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/ServletContextApplicationListener.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2012-2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.boot.web.support;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
+
+import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
+import org.springframework.boot.context.config.ConfigFileApplicationListener;
+import org.springframework.boot.context.event.ApplicationEnvironmentPreparedEvent;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationListener;
+import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
+import org.springframework.web.context.ConfigurableWebEnvironment;
+
+/**
+ * An {@link ApplicationListener} that initializes the {@link SpringApplication} using the
+ * {@link ServletContext}.
+ *
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
+ */
+final class ServletContextApplicationListener
+		implements ApplicationListener<ApplicationEnvironmentPreparedEvent>, Ordered {
+
+	private final ServletContext servletContext;
+
+	ServletContextApplicationListener(ServletContext servletContext) {
+		this.servletContext = servletContext;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public int getOrder() {
+		return ConfigFileApplicationListener.DEFAULT_ORDER - 1;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public void onApplicationEvent(ApplicationEnvironmentPreparedEvent event) {
+		if (event.getEnvironment() instanceof ConfigurableWebEnvironment) {
+			((ConfigurableWebEnvironment) event.getEnvironment())
+					.initPropertySources(this.servletContext, null);
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializer.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializer.java
index 31fccf8399..1bed45a303 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializer.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializer.java
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ public abstract class SpringBootServletInitializer implements WebApplicationInit
 		}
 		builder.initializers(
 				new ServletContextApplicationContextInitializer(servletContext));
+		builder.listeners(new ServletContextApplicationListener(servletContext));
 		builder.contextClass(AnnotationConfigEmbeddedWebApplicationContext.class);
 		builder = configure(builder);
 		SpringApplication application = builder.build();
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/ServletContextApplicationContextInitializerTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/ServletContextApplicationContextInitializerTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28c3cd57a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/ServletContextApplicationContextInitializerTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2012-2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.boot.web.support;
+
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.web.context.ConfigurableWebApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
+
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.times;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for {@link ServletContextApplicationContextInitializer}.
+ *
+ * @author Andy Wilkinson
+ */
+public class ServletContextApplicationContextInitializerTests {
+
+	private final ServletContext servletContext = mock(ServletContext.class);
+
+	private final ConfigurableWebApplicationContext applicationContext = mock(
+			ConfigurableWebApplicationContext.class);
+
+	@Test
+	public void servletContextIsSetOnTheApplicationContext() {
+		new ServletContextApplicationContextInitializer(this.servletContext)
+				.initialize(this.applicationContext);
+		verify(this.applicationContext).setServletContext(this.servletContext);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void applicationContextIsNotStoredInServletContextByDefault() {
+		new ServletContextApplicationContextInitializer(this.servletContext)
+				.initialize(this.applicationContext);
+		verify(this.servletContext, times(0)).setAttribute(
+				WebApplicationContext.ROOT_WEB_APPLICATION_CONTEXT_ATTRIBUTE,
+				this.applicationContext);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void applicationContextCanBeStoredInServletContext() {
+		new ServletContextApplicationContextInitializer(this.servletContext, true)
+				.initialize(this.applicationContext);
+		verify(this.servletContext).setAttribute(
+				WebApplicationContext.ROOT_WEB_APPLICATION_CONTEXT_ATTRIBUTE,
+				this.applicationContext);
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializerTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializerTests.java
index 159839b87b..c34eaebfe1 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializerTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/support/SpringBootServletInitializerTests.java
@@ -94,6 +94,13 @@ public class SpringBootServletInitializerTests {
 				.containsOnly(WithErrorPageFilterNotRegistered.class);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void servletContextApplicationListenerIsAdded() {
+		new WithConfiguredSource().createRootApplicationContext(this.servletContext);
+		assertThat(this.application.getListeners())
+				.hasAtLeastOneElementOfType(ServletContextApplicationListener.class);
+	}
+
 	private class MockSpringBootServletInitializer extends SpringBootServletInitializer {
 
 		@Override