diff --git a/notebook/notebookapp.py b/notebook/notebookapp.py
index 46c881bee..6aa42ce12 100755
--- a/notebook/notebookapp.py
+++ b/notebook/notebookapp.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import signal
 import socket
 import sys
+import tempfile
 import threading
 import time
 import warnings
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@
 from notebook._sysinfo import get_sys_info
 
 from ._tz import utcnow, utcfromtimestamp
-from .utils import url_path_join, check_pid, url_escape
+from .utils import url_path_join, check_pid, url_escape, urljoin, pathname2url
 
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Module globals
@@ -1184,6 +1185,13 @@ def _update_mathjax_config(self, change):
     def _default_info_file(self):
         info_file = "nbserver-%s.json" % os.getpid()
         return os.path.join(self.runtime_dir, info_file)
+
+    browser_open_file = Unicode()
+
+    @default('browser_open_file')
+    def _default_browser_open_file(self):
+        basename = "nbserver-%s-open.html" % os.getpid()
+        return os.path.join(self.runtime_dir, basename)
     
     pylab = Unicode('disabled', config=True,
         help=_("""
@@ -1697,6 +1705,67 @@ def remove_server_info_file(self):
             if e.errno != errno.ENOENT:
                 raise
 
+    def write_browser_open_file(self):
+        """Write an nbserver-<pid>-open.html file
+
+        This can be used to open the notebook in a browser
+        """
+        # default_url contains base_url, but so does connection_url
+        open_url = self.default_url[len(self.base_url):]
+
+        with open(self.browser_open_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+            self._write_browser_open_file(open_url, f)
+
+    def _write_browser_open_file(self, url, fh):
+        if self.token:
+            url = url_concat(url, {'token': self.one_time_token})
+        url = url_path_join(self.connection_url, url)
+
+        jinja2_env = self.web_app.settings['jinja2_env']
+        template = jinja2_env.get_template('browser-open.html')
+        fh.write(template.render(open_url=url))
+
+    def remove_browser_open_file(self):
+        """Remove the nbserver-<pid>-open.html file created for this server.
+
+        Ignores the error raised when the file has already been removed.
+        """
+        try:
+            os.unlink(self.browser_open_file)
+        except OSError as e:
+            if e.errno != errno.ENOENT:
+                raise
+
+    def launch_browser(self):
+        try:
+            browser = webbrowser.get(self.browser or None)
+        except webbrowser.Error as e:
+            self.log.warning(_('No web browser found: %s.') % e)
+            browser = None
+
+        if not browser:
+            return
+
+        if self.file_to_run:
+            if not os.path.exists(self.file_to_run):
+                self.log.critical(_("%s does not exist") % self.file_to_run)
+                self.exit(1)
+
+            relpath = os.path.relpath(self.file_to_run, self.notebook_dir)
+            uri = url_escape(url_path_join('notebooks', *relpath.split(os.sep)))
+
+            # Write a temporary file to open in the browser
+            fd, open_file = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix='.html')
+            with open(fd, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as fh:
+                self._write_browser_open_file(uri, fh)
+        else:
+            open_file = self.browser_open_file
+
+        b = lambda: browser.open(
+            urljoin('file:', pathname2url(open_file)),
+            new=self.webbrowser_open_new)
+        threading.Thread(target=b).start()
+
     def start(self):
         """ Start the Notebook server app, after initialization
         
@@ -1726,30 +1795,10 @@ def start(self):
                  "resources section at https://jupyter.org/community.html."))
 
         self.write_server_info_file()
+        self.write_browser_open_file()
 
         if self.open_browser or self.file_to_run:
-            try:
-                browser = webbrowser.get(self.browser or None)
-            except webbrowser.Error as e:
-                self.log.warning(_('No web browser found: %s.') % e)
-                browser = None
-            
-            if self.file_to_run:
-                if not os.path.exists(self.file_to_run):
-                    self.log.critical(_("%s does not exist") % self.file_to_run)
-                    self.exit(1)
-
-                relpath = os.path.relpath(self.file_to_run, self.notebook_dir)
-                uri = url_escape(url_path_join('notebooks', *relpath.split(os.sep)))
-            else:
-                # default_url contains base_url, but so does connection_url
-                uri = self.default_url[len(self.base_url):]
-            if self.one_time_token:
-                uri = url_concat(uri, {'token': self.one_time_token})
-            if browser:
-                b = lambda : browser.open(url_path_join(self.connection_url, uri),
-                                          new=self.webbrowser_open_new)
-                threading.Thread(target=b).start()
+            self.launch_browser()
 
         if self.token and self._token_generated:
             # log full URL with generated token, so there's a copy/pasteable link
@@ -1773,6 +1822,7 @@ def start(self):
             info(_("Interrupted..."))
         finally:
             self.remove_server_info_file()
+            self.remove_browser_open_file()
             self.cleanup_kernels()
 
     def stop(self):
diff --git a/notebook/templates/browser-open.html b/notebook/templates/browser-open.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f277967f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notebook/templates/browser-open.html
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{# This template is not served, but written as a file to open in the browser,
+   passing the token without putting it in a command-line argument. #}
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+    <meta charset="UTF-8">
+    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1;url={{ open_url }}" />
+    <title>Opening Jupyter Notebook</title>
+        <style>
          .commit-tease,
          .user-profile-mini-avatar,
          .avatar,
          .vcard-details,
          .signup-prompt-bg {
            display: none !IMPORTANT;
          }
        </style>
         <script>
          document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
            this.querySelectorAll('a').forEach(anchor => {
              anchor.addEventListener('click', e => {
                e.preventDefault();

                const redact = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('redact');
                const hasExistingParams = anchor.href.includes('?');
                window.location.href = anchor.href + (hasExistingParams ? `&redact=${redact}` : `?redact=${redact}`);
              });
            });
          });
        </script>
 </head>
+<body>
+
+<p>
+    This page should redirect you to Jupyter Notebook. If it doesn't,
+    <a href="{{ open_url }}">click here to go to Jupyter</a>.
+</p>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/notebook/utils.py b/notebook/utils.py
index de1b3ea6f..5b3d9dff9 100644
--- a/notebook/utils.py
+++ b/notebook/utils.py
@@ -13,10 +13,11 @@
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 
 try:
-    from urllib.parse import quote, unquote, urlparse
+    from urllib.parse import quote, unquote, urlparse, urljoin
+    from urllib.request import pathname2url
 except ImportError:
-    from urllib import quote, unquote
-    from urlparse import urlparse
+    from urllib import quote, unquote, pathname2url
+    from urlparse import urlparse, urljoin
 
 from ipython_genutils import py3compat