diff --git a/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewClassic.java b/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewClassic.java
index a324502..3afab09 100644
--- a/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewClassic.java
+++ b/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewClassic.java
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
 import android.text.InputType;
 import android.text.Selection;
 import android.text.TextUtils;
+import android.util.AndroidRuntimeException;
 import android.util.DisplayMetrics;
 import android.util.EventLog;
 import android.util.Log;
@@ -1293,6 +1294,19 @@
     // WebViewProvider bindings
 
     static class Factory implements WebViewFactoryProvider,  WebViewFactoryProvider.Statics {
+        Factory() {
+            // Touch JniUtil and WebViewCore in case this is being called from
+            // WebViewFactory.Preloader, to ensure that the JNI libraries that they use are
+            // preloaded in the zygote.
+            try {
+                Class.forName("android.webkit.JniUtil");
+                Class.forName("android.webkit.WebViewCore");
+            } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
+                Log.e(LOGTAG, "failed to load JNI libraries");
+                throw new AndroidRuntimeException(e);
+            }
+        }
+
         @Override
         public String findAddress(String addr) {
             return WebViewClassic.findAddress(addr);
diff --git a/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewFactory.java b/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewFactory.java
index ea5187a..2ee0961 100644
--- a/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewFactory.java
+++ b/core/java/android/webkit/WebViewFactory.java
@@ -19,10 +19,9 @@
 import android.os.Build;
 import android.os.StrictMode;
 import android.os.SystemProperties;
+import android.util.AndroidRuntimeException;
 import android.util.Log;
 
-import dalvik.system.PathClassLoader;
-
 /**
  * Top level factory, used creating all the main WebView implementation classes.
  *
@@ -45,6 +44,17 @@
 
     private static final boolean DEBUG = false;
 
+    private static class Preloader {
+        static WebViewFactoryProvider sPreloadedProvider;
+        static {
+            try {
+                sPreloadedProvider = getFactoryClass().newInstance();
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                Log.w(LOGTAG, "error preloading provider", e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // Cache the factory both for efficiency, and ensure any one process gets all webviews from the
     // same provider.
     private static WebViewFactoryProvider sProviderInstance;
@@ -67,32 +77,39 @@
             // us honest and minimize usage of WebViewClassic internals when binding the proxy.
             if (sProviderInstance != null) return sProviderInstance;
 
-            if (isExperimentalWebViewEnabled()) {
-                StrictMode.ThreadPolicy oldPolicy = StrictMode.allowThreadDiskReads();
-                try {
-                    sProviderInstance = getFactoryByName(CHROMIUM_WEBVIEW_FACTORY);
-                    if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "Loaded Chromium provider: " + sProviderInstance);
-                } finally {
-                    StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(oldPolicy);
-                }
+            Class<WebViewFactoryProvider> providerClass;
+            try {
+                providerClass = getFactoryClass();
+            } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
+                Log.e(LOGTAG, "error loading provider", e);
+                throw new AndroidRuntimeException(e);
             }
 
-            if (sProviderInstance == null) {
-                if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "Falling back to default provider: "
-                        + DEFAULT_WEBVIEW_FACTORY);
-                sProviderInstance = getFactoryByName(DEFAULT_WEBVIEW_FACTORY);
-                if (sProviderInstance == null) {
-                    if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "Falling back to explicit linkage");
-                    sProviderInstance = new WebViewClassic.Factory();
-                }
+            // This implicitly loads Preloader even if it wasn't preloaded at boot.
+            if (Preloader.sPreloadedProvider != null &&
+                Preloader.sPreloadedProvider.getClass() == providerClass) {
+                sProviderInstance = Preloader.sPreloadedProvider;
+                if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "Using preloaded provider: " + sProviderInstance);
+                return sProviderInstance;
             }
-            return sProviderInstance;
+
+            // The preloaded provider isn't the one we wanted; construct our own.
+            StrictMode.ThreadPolicy oldPolicy = StrictMode.allowThreadDiskReads();
+            try {
+                sProviderInstance = providerClass.newInstance();
+                if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "Loaded provider: " + sProviderInstance);
+                return sProviderInstance;
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                Log.e(LOGTAG, "error instantiating provider", e);
+                throw new AndroidRuntimeException(e);
+            } finally {
+                StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(oldPolicy);
+            }
         }
     }
 
-    // For debug builds, we allow a system property to specify that we should use the
-    // experimtanl Chromium powered WebView. This enables us to switch between
-    // implementations at runtime. For user (release) builds, don't allow this.
+    // We allow a system property to specify that we should use the experimental Chromium powered
+    // WebView. This enables us to switch between implementations at runtime.
     private static boolean isExperimentalWebViewEnabled() {
         if (!isExperimentalWebViewAvailable()) return false;
         boolean use_experimental_webview = SystemProperties.getBoolean(
@@ -108,19 +125,11 @@
         return use_experimental_webview;
     }
 
-    private static WebViewFactoryProvider getFactoryByName(String providerName) {
-        try {
-            if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "attempt to load class " + providerName);
-            Class<?> c = Class.forName(providerName);
-            if (DEBUG) Log.v(LOGTAG, "instantiating factory");
-            return (WebViewFactoryProvider) c.newInstance();
-        } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
-            Log.e(LOGTAG, "error loading " + providerName, e);
-        } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
-            Log.e(LOGTAG, "error loading " + providerName, e);
-        } catch (InstantiationException e) {
-            Log.e(LOGTAG, "error loading " + providerName, e);
+    private static Class<WebViewFactoryProvider> getFactoryClass() throws ClassNotFoundException {
+        if (isExperimentalWebViewEnabled()) {
+            return (Class<WebViewFactoryProvider>) Class.forName(CHROMIUM_WEBVIEW_FACTORY);
+        } else  {
+            return (Class<WebViewFactoryProvider>) Class.forName(DEFAULT_WEBVIEW_FACTORY);
         }
-        return null;
     }
 }
diff --git a/preloaded-classes b/preloaded-classes
index 2aa610a..45d27ee 100644
--- a/preloaded-classes
+++ b/preloaded-classes
@@ -1220,7 +1220,6 @@
 android.webkit.HTML5VideoViewProxy
 android.webkit.JWebCoreJavaBridge
 android.webkit.JavascriptInterface
-android.webkit.JniUtil
 android.webkit.L10nUtils
 android.webkit.MockGeolocation
 android.webkit.OverScrollGlow
@@ -1269,7 +1268,6 @@
 android.webkit.WebViewClassic$TrustStorageListener
 android.webkit.WebViewClassic$ViewSizeData
 android.webkit.WebViewClient
-android.webkit.WebViewCore
 android.webkit.WebViewCore$AutoFillData
 android.webkit.WebViewCore$DrawData
 android.webkit.WebViewCore$EventHub
@@ -1283,6 +1281,7 @@
 android.webkit.WebViewDatabaseClassic
 android.webkit.WebViewDatabaseClassic$1
 android.webkit.WebViewFactory
+android.webkit.WebViewFactory$Preloader
 android.webkit.WebViewFactoryProvider
 android.webkit.WebViewFactoryProvider$Statics
 android.webkit.WebViewInputDispatcher