diff --git a/apps/DEPS b/apps/DEPS
index 77d24b5933b3e0..8d827715530cad 100644
--- a/apps/DEPS
+++ b/apps/DEPS
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ include_rules = [
   "+components/keyed_service",
   "+components/user_manager",
   "+extensions",
+  # app_shell may depend on apps, but not vice versa.
+  "-extensions/shell",
   "+net/base",
 ]
 
diff --git a/extensions/shell/BUILD.gn b/extensions/shell/BUILD.gn
index 31e941770c490d..b25f58b4d7f29b 100644
--- a/extensions/shell/BUILD.gn
+++ b/extensions/shell/BUILD.gn
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ source_set("app_shell_lib") {
   deps = [
     ":resources",
     ":version_header",
+    "//apps",
     "//base",
     "//components/guest_view/browser",
     "//components/guest_view/common",
diff --git a/extensions/shell/DEPS b/extensions/shell/DEPS
index eeb99ae5d8c730..b8070248d7c54b 100644
--- a/extensions/shell/DEPS
+++ b/extensions/shell/DEPS
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 include_rules = [
-  # The apps module has dependencies on chrome.
-  "-apps",
-
   # Individual subdirectories should have their own DEPS that include
   # their allowed directories.
   "-extensions/shell",
diff --git a/extensions/shell/browser/DEPS b/extensions/shell/browser/DEPS
index e834fe113bd83c..274f5f61769e10 100644
--- a/extensions/shell/browser/DEPS
+++ b/extensions/shell/browser/DEPS
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 include_rules = [
+  "+apps",
   "+chromeos",
   "+components/keyed_service",
   "+components/nacl/browser",
diff --git a/extensions/shell/browser/default_shell_browser_main_delegate.cc b/extensions/shell/browser/default_shell_browser_main_delegate.cc
index c73a35f9a32ec8..74a5473756ea4a 100644
--- a/extensions/shell/browser/default_shell_browser_main_delegate.cc
+++ b/extensions/shell/browser/default_shell_browser_main_delegate.cc
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@
 
 #include "extensions/shell/browser/default_shell_browser_main_delegate.h"
 
+#include "apps/launcher.h"
 #include "base/command_line.h"
 #include "base/files/file_path.h"
 #include "base/files/file_util.h"
+#include "base/path_service.h"
 #include "base/strings/string_tokenizer.h"
 #include "build/build_config.h"
 #include "extensions/common/switches.h"
@@ -43,22 +45,25 @@ void DefaultShellBrowserMainDelegate::Start(
                            base::CommandLine::StringType::const_iterator>
         tokenizer(path_list, FILE_PATH_LITERAL(","));
 
-    std::string launch_id;
+    const Extension* launch_app = nullptr;
     while (tokenizer.GetNext()) {
       base::FilePath app_absolute_dir =
           base::MakeAbsoluteFilePath(base::FilePath(tokenizer.token()));
 
       const Extension* extension = extension_system->LoadApp(app_absolute_dir);
-      if (!extension)
-        continue;
-      if (launch_id.empty())
-        launch_id = extension->id();
+      if (extension && !launch_app)
+        launch_app = extension;
     }
 
-    if (!launch_id.empty())
-      extension_system->LaunchApp(launch_id);
-    else
+    if (launch_app) {
+      base::FilePath current_directory;
+      base::PathService::Get(base::DIR_CURRENT, &current_directory);
+      apps::LaunchPlatformAppWithCommandLineAndLaunchId(
+          browser_context, launch_app, launch_app->id(), *command_line,
+          current_directory, SOURCE_COMMAND_LINE);
+    } else {
       LOG(ERROR) << "Could not load any apps.";
+    }
   } else {
     LOG(ERROR) << "--" << switches::kLoadApps
                << " unset; boredom is in your future";