diff --git a/packages/meteor/plugin/basic-file-types.js b/packages/meteor/plugin/basic-file-types.js
index 39d78e2b35..cc000ff862 100644
--- a/packages/meteor/plugin/basic-file-types.js
+++ b/packages/meteor/plugin/basic-file-types.js
@@ -2,9 +2,25 @@
    we can't exactly define the *.js source file handler in a *.js
    source file. */
 
-Plugin.registerSourceHandler("css", {archMatching: 'web'}, function (compileStep) {
-  compileStep.addStylesheet({
-    data: compileStep.read().toString('utf8'),
-    path: compileStep.inputPath
-  });
+// NOTE: It's only OK for *this* package to call this function directly, because
+// otherwise we'd end up with a circular dependency between meteor and
+// compiler-plugin.  The issue we're trying to avoid by requiring an explicit
+// dependency on compiler-plugin doesn't matter because css has some
+// backwards-compatibility special-casing in the tool.
+Plugin._doNotCallThisDirectly_registerCompiler({
+  extensions: ['css'],
+  archMatching: 'web'
+}, function () {
+  return new CssCompiler;
 });
+
+var CssCompiler = function () {
+};
+CssCompiler.prototype.processFilesForTarget = function (inputFiles) {
+  inputFiles.forEach(function (inputFile) {
+    inputFile.addStylesheet({
+      data: inputFile.getContentsAsString(),
+      path: inputFile.getPathInPackage()
+    });
+  });
+};