diff --git a/spring-boot-cli/pom.xml b/spring-boot-cli/pom.xml
index d03f1885ef9..33cf8056f86 100644
--- a/spring-boot-cli/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-boot-cli/pom.xml
@@ -233,11 +233,14 @@
 							<archive>
 								<manifest>
 									<addDefaultImplementationEntries>true</addDefaultImplementationEntries>
-									<mainClass>org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher</mainClass>
+									<mainClass>org.springframework.boot.loader.PropertiesLauncher</mainClass>
 								</manifest>
 								<manifestEntries>
 									<Start-Class>${start-class}</Start-Class>
 								</manifestEntries>
+								<manifestEntries>
+									<Class-Loader>groovy.lang.GroovyClassLoader</Class-Loader>
+								</manifestEntries>
 							</archive>
 						</configuration>
 					</execution>
diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java
index 6cf127f639f..ab490ad8306 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncher.java
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.jar.Manifest;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import org.springframework.boot.loader.archive.Archive;
 import org.springframework.boot.loader.archive.Archive.Entry;
@@ -116,6 +120,8 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 
 	private static final List<String> DEFAULT_PATHS = Arrays.asList("lib/");
 
+	private static final Pattern WORD_SEPARATOR = Pattern.compile("\\W+");
+
 	private final File home;
 
 	private List<String> paths = new ArrayList<String>(DEFAULT_PATHS);
@@ -123,6 +129,9 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 	private Properties properties = new Properties();
 
 	public PropertiesLauncher() {
+		if (!isDebug()) {
+			this.logger.setLevel(Level.SEVERE);
+		}
 		try {
 			this.home = getHomeDirectory();
 			initializeProperties(this.home);
@@ -133,6 +142,22 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 		}
 	}
 
+	private boolean isDebug() {
+		String debug = System.getProperty("debug");
+		if (debug != null && !"false".equals(debug)) {
+			return true;
+		}
+		debug = System.getProperty("DEBUG");
+		if (debug != null && !"false".equals(debug)) {
+			return true;
+		}
+		debug = System.getenv("DEBUG");
+		if (debug != null && !"false".equals(debug)) {
+			return true;
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+
 	protected File getHomeDirectory() {
 		return new File(SystemPropertyUtils.resolvePlaceholders(System.getProperty(HOME,
 				"${user.dir}")));
@@ -290,30 +315,82 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 
 	@Override
 	protected String getMainClass() throws Exception {
-		String property = SystemPropertyUtils.getProperty(MAIN);
+		String mainClass = getProperty(MAIN, "Start-Class");
+		if (mainClass == null) {
+			throw new IllegalStateException("No '" + MAIN
+					+ "' or 'Start-Class' specified");
+		}
+		return mainClass;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	protected ClassLoader createClassLoader(List<Archive> archives) throws Exception {
+		ClassLoader loader = super.createClassLoader(archives);
+		String classLoaderType = getProperty("loader.classLoader");
+		if (classLoaderType != null) {
+			Class<?> type = Class.forName(classLoaderType, true, loader);
+			try {
+				loader = (ClassLoader) type.getConstructor(ClassLoader.class)
+						.newInstance(loader);
+			}
+			catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
+				try {
+					loader = (ClassLoader) type.getConstructor(URL[].class,
+							ClassLoader.class).newInstance(new URL[0], loader);
+				}
+				catch (NoSuchMethodException ex) {
+					loader = (ClassLoader) type.newInstance();
+				}
+			}
+			this.logger.info("Using custom class loader: " + classLoaderType);
+		}
+		return loader;
+	}
+
+	private String getProperty(String propertyKey) throws Exception {
+		return getProperty(propertyKey, null);
+	}
+
+	private String getProperty(String propertyKey, String manifestKey) throws Exception {
+		if (manifestKey == null) {
+			manifestKey = propertyKey.replace(".", "-");
+			manifestKey = toCamelCase(manifestKey);
+		}
+		String property = SystemPropertyUtils.getProperty(propertyKey);
 		if (property != null) {
-			String mainClass = SystemPropertyUtils.resolvePlaceholders(property);
-			this.logger.info("Main class from environment: " + mainClass);
-			return mainClass;
+			String value = SystemPropertyUtils.resolvePlaceholders(property);
+			this.logger.fine("Property '" + propertyKey + "' from environment: " + value);
+			return value;
 		}
-		if (this.properties.containsKey(MAIN)) {
-			String mainClass = SystemPropertyUtils.resolvePlaceholders(this.properties
-					.getProperty(MAIN));
-			this.logger.info("Main class from properties: " + mainClass);
-			return mainClass;
+		if (this.properties.containsKey(propertyKey)) {
+			String value = SystemPropertyUtils.resolvePlaceholders(this.properties
+					.getProperty(propertyKey));
+			this.logger.fine("Property '" + propertyKey + "' from properties: " + value);
+			return value;
 		}
 		try {
 			// Prefer home dir for MANIFEST if there is one
-			String mainClass = new ExplodedArchive(this.home).getMainClass();
-			this.logger.info("Main class from home directory manifest: " + mainClass);
-			return mainClass;
+			Manifest manifest = new ExplodedArchive(this.home).getManifest();
+			if (manifest != null) {
+				String value = manifest.getMainAttributes().getValue(manifestKey);
+				this.logger.fine("Property '" + manifestKey
+						+ "' from home directory manifest: " + value);
+				return value;
+			}
 		}
 		catch (IllegalStateException ex) {
-			// Otherwise try the parent archive
-			String mainClass = createArchive().getMainClass();
-			this.logger.info("Main class from archive manifest: " + mainClass);
-			return mainClass;
 		}
+		// Otherwise try the parent archive
+		Manifest manifest = createArchive().getManifest();
+		if (manifest != null) {
+			String value = manifest.getMainAttributes().getValue(manifestKey);
+			if (value != null) {
+				this.logger.fine("Property '" + manifestKey + "' from archive manifest: "
+						+ value);
+				return value;
+			}
+		}
+		return null;
 	}
 
 	@Override
@@ -444,6 +521,28 @@ public class PropertiesLauncher extends Launcher {
 		new PropertiesLauncher().launch(args);
 	}
 
+	public static String toCamelCase(CharSequence string) {
+		if (string == null) {
+			return null;
+		}
+		StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
+		Matcher matcher = WORD_SEPARATOR.matcher(string);
+		int pos = 0;
+		while (matcher.find()) {
+			builder.append(capitalize(string.subSequence(pos, matcher.end()).toString()));
+			pos = matcher.end();
+		}
+		builder.append(capitalize(string.subSequence(pos, string.length()).toString()));
+		return builder.toString();
+	}
+
+	private static Object capitalize(String str) {
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(str.length());
+		sb.append(Character.toUpperCase(str.charAt(0)));
+		sb.append(str.substring(1));
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Convenience class for finding nested archives (archive entries that can be
 	 * classpath entries).
diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java
index 11228f0f8f3..b0b5c2411f3 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-loader/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/loader/PropertiesLauncherTests.java
@@ -18,14 +18,19 @@ package org.springframework.boot.loader;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.URLClassLoader;
+import java.util.Collections;
 
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.boot.loader.archive.Archive;
 import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 /**
@@ -98,6 +103,27 @@ public class PropertiesLauncherTests {
 		waitFor("Hello World");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testUserSpecifiedClassLoader() throws Exception {
+		System.setProperty("loader.path", "jars/app.jar");
+		System.setProperty("loader.classLoader", URLClassLoader.class.getName());
+		PropertiesLauncher launcher = new PropertiesLauncher();
+		assertEquals("[jars/app.jar]", ReflectionTestUtils.getField(launcher, "paths")
+				.toString());
+		launcher.launch(new String[0]);
+		waitFor("Hello World");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCustomClassLoaderCreation() throws Exception {
+		System.setProperty("loader.classLoader", TestLoader.class.getName());
+		PropertiesLauncher launcher = new PropertiesLauncher();
+		ClassLoader loader = launcher
+				.createClassLoader(Collections.<Archive> emptyList());
+		assertNotNull(loader);
+		assertEquals(TestLoader.class.getName(), loader.getClass().getName());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testUserSpecifiedConfigPathWins() throws Exception {
 
@@ -132,4 +158,16 @@ public class PropertiesLauncherTests {
 		assertTrue("Timed out waiting for (" + value + ")", timeout);
 	}
 
+	public static class TestLoader extends URLClassLoader {
+
+		public TestLoader(ClassLoader parent) {
+			super(new URL[0], parent);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected Class<?> findClass(String name) throws ClassNotFoundException {
+			return super.findClass(name);
+		}
+	}
+
 }