diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/BackgroundPreinitializer.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/BackgroundPreinitializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bbd2c4beb29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/BackgroundPreinitializer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2012-2015 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.autoconfigure;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+
+import javax.validation.Validation;
+
+import org.apache.catalina.mbeans.MBeanFactory;
+
+import org.springframework.boot.context.event.ApplicationStartedEvent;
+import org.springframework.context.ApplicationListener;
+import org.springframework.http.converter.support.AllEncompassingFormHttpMessageConverter;
+
+/**
+ * {@link ApplicationListener} to trigger early initialization in a background thread of
+ * time consuming tasks.
+ *
+ * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @since 1.3.0
+ */
+public class BackgroundPreinitializer
+		implements ApplicationListener<ApplicationStartedEvent> {
+
+	@Override
+	public void onApplicationEvent(ApplicationStartedEvent event) {
+		ExecutorService executor = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor();
+		submit(executor, new MessageConverterInitializer());
+		submit(executor, new MBeanFactoryInitializer());
+		submit(executor, new ValidationInitializer());
+		executor.shutdown();
+	}
+
+	private void submit(ExecutorService executor, Runnable runnable) {
+		executor.submit(new FailSafeRunnable(runnable));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Wrapper to ignore any thrown exceptions.
+	 */
+	private static class FailSafeRunnable implements Runnable {
+
+		private final Runnable delegate;
+
+		FailSafeRunnable(Runnable delegate) {
+			this.delegate = delegate;
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public void run() {
+			try {
+				this.delegate.run();
+			}
+			catch (Throwable ex) {
+				// Ignore
+			}
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Early initializer for Spring MessageConverters.
+	 */
+	private static class MessageConverterInitializer implements Runnable {
+
+		@Override
+		public void run() {
+			new AllEncompassingFormHttpMessageConverter();
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Early initializer to load Tomcat MBean XML.
+	 */
+	private static class MBeanFactoryInitializer implements Runnable {
+
+		@Override
+		public void run() {
+			new MBeanFactory();
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Early initializer for javax.validation.
+	 */
+	private static class ValidationInitializer implements Runnable {
+
+		@Override
+		public void run() {
+			Validation.byDefaultProvider().configure();
+		}
+
+	}
+}
diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories
index 9daae351249..c3cd466d3b7 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextInitializer=\
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.logging.AutoConfigurationReportLoggingInitializer
 
+# Application Listeners
+org.springframework.context.ApplicationListener=\
+org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.BackgroundPreinitializer
+
 # Auto Configure
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.EnableAutoConfiguration=\
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.admin.SpringApplicationAdminJmxAutoConfiguration,\