diff --git a/framework/core/migrations/2015_02_24_000000_create_posts_table.php b/framework/core/migrations/2015_02_24_000000_create_posts_table.php
index da534bae1..8a3fc96aa 100644
--- a/framework/core/migrations/2015_02_24_000000_create_posts_table.php
+++ b/framework/core/migrations/2015_02_24_000000_create_posts_table.php
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class CreatePostsTable extends Migration
             $table->engine = 'MyISAM';
         });
 
-        DB::statement('ALTER TABLE posts ADD FULLTEXT content (content)');
+        app('db')->statement('ALTER TABLE posts ADD FULLTEXT content (content)');
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/framework/core/src/Admin/Actions/IndexAction.php b/framework/core/src/Admin/Actions/IndexAction.php
index 10e8dad67..15fea7ab8 100644
--- a/framework/core/src/Admin/Actions/IndexAction.php
+++ b/framework/core/src/Admin/Actions/IndexAction.php
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ use Flarum\Support\Actor;
 use Flarum\Support\HtmlAction;
 use Session;
 use Config;
-use DB;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface as Request;
 
 class IndexAction extends HtmlAction
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@ class IndexAction extends HtmlAction
 
     protected function render(Request $request, $routeParams = [])
     {
-        $config = DB::table('config')->whereIn('key', ['base_url', 'api_url', 'forum_title', 'welcome_title', 'welcome_message'])->lists('value', 'key');
+        $config = app('db')->table('config')->whereIn('key', ['base_url', 'api_url', 'forum_title', 'welcome_title', 'welcome_message'])->lists('value', 'key');
         $data = [];
         $session = [];
         $alert = Session::get('alert');
diff --git a/framework/core/src/Core/Application.php b/framework/core/src/Core/Application.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b9a40dca4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/framework/core/src/Core/Application.php
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Flarum\Core;
+
+use Illuminate\Container\Container;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Foundation\Application as LaravelApplication;
+
+class Application extends Container implements LaravelApplication
+{
+    /**
+     * @var string
+     */
+    protected $basePath;
+
+    /**
+     * @var array
+     */
+    protected $serviceProviders = [];
+
+    /**
+     * @var array
+     */
+    protected $bootingListeners = [];
+
+    /**
+     * @var array
+     */
+    protected $bootedListeners = [];
+
+    /**
+     * Create the application instance.
+     *
+     * @param $basePath
+     */
+    public function __construct($basePath)
+    {
+        $this->basePath = $basePath;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the version number of the application.
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function version()
+    {
+        return '1.0.dev';
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the base path of the Laravel installation.
+     *
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function basePath()
+    {
+        return $this->basePath;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get or check the current application environment.
+     *
+     * @param  mixed
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function environment()
+    {
+        return 'production';
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Determine if the application is currently down for maintenance.
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function isDownForMaintenance()
+    {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register all of the configured providers.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function registerConfiguredProviders()
+    {
+        foreach ($this->serviceProviders as $provider) {
+            $provider->register();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register a service provider with the application.
+     *
+     * @param  \Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider|string $provider
+     * @param  array $options
+     * @param  bool $force
+     * @return \Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider
+     */
+    public function register($provider, $options = array(), $force = false)
+    {
+        $this->serviceProviders[] = $provider;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register a deferred provider and service.
+     *
+     * @param  string $provider
+     * @param  string $service
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function registerDeferredProvider($provider, $service = null)
+    {
+        $this->register($provider);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Boot the application's service providers.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function boot()
+    {
+        $this->fireListeners($this->bootingListeners);
+
+        foreach ($this->serviceProviders as $provider) {
+            $this->call([$provider, 'boot']);
+        }
+
+        $this->fireListeners($this->bootedListeners);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register a new boot listener.
+     *
+     * @param  mixed $callback
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function booting($callback)
+    {
+        $this->bootingListeners[] = $callback;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Register a new "booted" listener.
+     *
+     * @param  mixed $callback
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function booted($callback)
+    {
+        $this->bootedListeners[] = $callback;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fire the given array of listener callbacks.
+     *
+     * @param array $listeners
+     * @return void
+     */
+    protected function fireListeners(array $listeners)
+    {
+        foreach ($listeners as $listener)
+        {
+            $listener($this);
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/framework/core/src/Core/Repositories/EloquentNotificationRepository.php b/framework/core/src/Core/Repositories/EloquentNotificationRepository.php
index bece07e40..2590c48c2 100644
--- a/framework/core/src/Core/Repositories/EloquentNotificationRepository.php
+++ b/framework/core/src/Core/Repositories/EloquentNotificationRepository.php
@@ -2,13 +2,12 @@
 
 use Flarum\Core\Models\Notification;
 use Flarum\Core\Models\User;
-use DB;
 
 class EloquentNotificationRepository implements NotificationRepositoryInterface
 {
     public function findByUser(User $user, $limit = null, $offset = 0)
     {
-        $primaries = Notification::select(DB::raw('MAX(id) AS id'), DB::raw('SUM(is_read = 0) AS unread_count'))
+        $primaries = Notification::select(app('db')->raw('MAX(id) AS id'), app('db')->raw('SUM(is_read = 0) AS unread_count'))
             ->where('user_id', $user->id)
             ->whereIn('type', array_filter(array_keys(Notification::getTypes()), [$user, 'shouldAlert']))
             ->where('is_deleted', false)
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@ class EloquentNotificationRepository implements NotificationRepositoryInterface
         return Notification::with('subject')
             ->select('notifications.*', 'p.unread_count')
             ->mergeBindings($primaries->getQuery())
-            ->join(DB::raw('('.$primaries->toSql().') p'), 'notifications.id', '=', 'p.id')
+            ->join(app('db')->raw('('.$primaries->toSql().') p'), 'notifications.id', '=', 'p.id')
             ->orderBy('time', 'desc')
             ->get();
     }
diff --git a/framework/core/src/Core/Seeders/ConfigTableSeeder.php b/framework/core/src/Core/Seeders/ConfigTableSeeder.php
index 96d58846e..f692379dc 100644
--- a/framework/core/src/Core/Seeders/ConfigTableSeeder.php
+++ b/framework/core/src/Core/Seeders/ConfigTableSeeder.php
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 <?php  namespace Flarum\Core\Seeders;
 
 use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
-use DB;
 
 class ConfigTableSeeder extends Seeder
 {
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ class ConfigTableSeeder extends Seeder
             'theme_colored_header'  => false,
         ];
 
-        DB::table('config')->insert(array_map(function ($key, $value) {
+        app('db')->table('config')->insert(array_map(function ($key, $value) {
             return compact('key', 'value');
         }, array_keys($config), $config));
     }
diff --git a/framework/core/tests/api/_bootstrap.php b/framework/core/tests/api/_bootstrap.php
index d5fb59d60..2acb9aae7 100644
--- a/framework/core/tests/api/_bootstrap.php
+++ b/framework/core/tests/api/_bootstrap.php
@@ -29,5 +29,5 @@ foreach ($permissions as &$permission) {
         'permission' => $permission[2]
     ];
 }
-\DB::table('permissions')->truncate();
-\DB::table('permissions')->insert($permissions);
\ No newline at end of file
+app('db')->table('permissions')->truncate();
+app('db')->table('permissions')->insert($permissions);
\ No newline at end of file