diff --git a/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/MainLoop.scala b/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/MainLoop.scala
index fa512e8dd..488decab0 100644
--- a/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/MainLoop.scala
+++ b/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/MainLoop.scala
@@ -65,18 +65,6 @@ object MainLoop {
       val newLogging = state.globalLogging.newLogger(out, logBacking)
       transferLevels(state, newLogging)
       val loggedState = state.copy(globalLogging = newLogging)
-      def isInteractive = System.console() != null
-      def hasShell = state.remainingCommands contains "shell"
-      /**
-       * The "boot" command adds "iflast shell" ("if last shell")
-       * which basically means it falls back to shell if there are no further commands
-       */
-      def endsWithBoot = state.remainingCommands.lastOption exists (_ == "boot")
-      if (isInteractive && !hasShell && !endsWithBoot) {
-        state.log warn "Executing in batch mode."
-        state.log warn "  For better performance, hit [ENTER] to switch to interactive mode, or"
-        state.log warn "  consider launching sbt without any commands, or explicitly passing 'shell'"
-      }
       try run(loggedState) finally out.close()
     }
 
diff --git a/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/State.scala b/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/State.scala
index 218e136af..bc79ba7a7 100644
--- a/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/State.scala
+++ b/main/command/src/main/scala/sbt/State.scala
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ package sbt
 
 import java.io.File
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable
+import sbt.BasicCommandStrings.Shell
 
 /**
  * Data structure representing all command execution information.
@@ -183,8 +184,9 @@ object State {
       }
       def isInteractive = System.console() != null
       def hasInput = System.console().reader().ready()
+      def hasShellCmd = s.definedCommands exists { case c: SimpleCommand => c.name == Shell; case _ => false }
       s.remainingCommands match {
-        case Seq()           => if (isInteractive && hasInput) doX("shell", Nil) else exit(true)
+        case Seq()           => if (isInteractive && hasInput && hasShellCmd) doX(Shell, Nil) else exit(true)
         case Seq(x, xs @ _*) => doX(x, xs)
       }
     }
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Main.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Main.scala
index eee3ef79b..f9baefd0e 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Main.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Main.scala
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ import java.net.URI
 import java.util.Locale
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
+import BasicCommandStrings.Shell
+import CommandStrings.BootCommand
+
 /** This class is the entry point for sbt. */
 final class xMain extends xsbti.AppMain {
   def run(configuration: xsbti.AppConfiguration): xsbti.MainResult =
@@ -28,10 +31,11 @@ final class xMain extends xsbti.AppMain {
       import CommandStrings.{ BootCommand, DefaultsCommand, InitCommand }
       if (!java.lang.Boolean.getBoolean("sbt.skip.version.write"))
         setSbtVersion(configuration.baseDirectory(), configuration.provider().id().version())
-      runManaged(initialState(configuration,
+      val state = initialState(configuration,
         Seq(defaults, early),
         runEarly(DefaultsCommand) :: runEarly(InitCommand) :: BootCommand :: Nil)
-      )
+      notifyUsersAboutShell(state)
+      runManaged(state)
     }
 
   private val sbtVersionRegex = """sbt\.version\s*=.*""".r
@@ -62,6 +66,22 @@ final class xMain extends xsbti.AppMain {
       }
     }
   }
+
+  private def isInteractive = System.console() != null
+  private def hasShell(state: State) = state.remainingCommands contains Shell
+
+  /**
+   * The "boot" command adds "iflast shell" ("if last shell")
+   * which basically means it falls back to shell if there are no further commands
+   */
+  private def endsWithBoot(state: State) = state.remainingCommands.lastOption exists (_ == BootCommand)
+
+  private def notifyUsersAboutShell(state: State) =
+    if (isInteractive && !hasShell(state) && !endsWithBoot(state)) {
+      state.log warn "Executing in batch mode."
+      state.log warn "  For better performance, hit [ENTER] to switch to interactive mode, or"
+      state.log warn "  consider launching sbt without any commands, or explicitly passing 'shell'"
+    }
 }
 
 final class ScriptMain extends xsbti.AppMain {