diff --git a/packages/accounts-base/accounts_server.js b/packages/accounts-base/accounts_server.js
index 9c26b38daf..5fdbf1737c 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-base/accounts_server.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-base/accounts_server.js
@@ -312,13 +312,14 @@ Meteor.publish(null, function() {
 // Accounts.addAutopublishFields Notably, this isn't implemented with
 // multiple publishes since DDP only merges only across top-level
 // fields, not subfields (such as 'services.facebook.accessToken')
-autopublishFields = {
+var autopublishFields = {
   loggedInUser: ['profile', 'username', 'emails'],
   otherUsers: ['profile', 'username']
 };
 
 // Add to the list of fields or subfields to be automatically
-// published if autopublish is on
+// published if autopublish is on. Must be called from top-level
+// code (ie, before Meteor.startup hooks run).
 //
 // @param opts {Object} with:
 //   - forLoggedInUser {Array} Array of fields published to the logged-in user
@@ -330,42 +331,45 @@ Accounts.addAutopublishFields = function(opts) {
     autopublishFields.otherUsers, opts.forOtherUsers);
 };
 
-Meteor.server.onAutopublish(function () {
-  // ['profile', 'username'] -> {profile: 1, username: 1}
-  var toFieldSelector = function(fields) {
-    return _.object(_.map(fields, function(field) {
-      return [field, 1];
-    }));
-  };
+if (Package.autopublish) {
+  // Use Meteor.startup to give other packages a chance to call
+  // addAutopublishFields.
+  Meteor.startup(function () {
+    // ['profile', 'username'] -> {profile: 1, username: 1}
+    var toFieldSelector = function(fields) {
+      return _.object(_.map(fields, function(field) {
+        return [field, 1];
+      }));
+    };
+
+    Meteor.server.publish(null, function () {
+      if (this.userId) {
+        return Meteor.users.find(
+          {_id: this.userId},
+          {fields: toFieldSelector(autopublishFields.loggedInUser)});
+      } else {
+        return null;
+      }
+    }, /*suppress autopublish warning*/{is_auto: true});
+
+    // XXX this publish is neither dedup-able nor is it optimized by our special
+    // treatment of queries on a specific _id. Therefore this will have O(n^2)
+    // run-time performance every time a user document is changed (eg someone
+    // logging in). If this is a problem, we can instead write a manual publish
+    // function which filters out fields based on 'this.userId'.
+    Meteor.server.publish(null, function () {
+      var selector;
+      if (this.userId)
+        selector = {_id: {$ne: this.userId}};
+      else
+        selector = {};
 
-  Meteor.server.publish(null, function () {
-    if (this.userId) {
       return Meteor.users.find(
-        {_id: this.userId},
-        {fields: toFieldSelector(autopublishFields.loggedInUser)});
-    } else {
-      return null;
-    }
-  }, /*suppress autopublish warning*/{is_auto: true});
-
-  // XXX this publish is neither dedup-able nor is it optimized by our
-  // special treatment of queries on a specific _id. Therefore this
-  // will have O(n^2) run-time performance every time a user document
-  // is changed (eg someone logging in). If this is a problem, we can
-  // instead write a manual publish function which filters out fields
-  // based on 'this.userId'.
-  Meteor.server.publish(null, function () {
-    var selector;
-    if (this.userId)
-      selector = {_id: {$ne: this.userId}};
-    else
-      selector = {};
-
-    return Meteor.users.find(
-      selector,
-      {fields: toFieldSelector(autopublishFields.otherUsers)});
-  }, /*suppress autopublish warning*/{is_auto: true});
-});
+        selector,
+        {fields: toFieldSelector(autopublishFields.otherUsers)});
+    }, /*suppress autopublish warning*/{is_auto: true});
+  });
+}
 
 // Publish all login service configuration fields other than secret.
 Meteor.publish("meteor.loginServiceConfiguration", function () {
diff --git a/packages/accounts-base/package.js b/packages/accounts-base/package.js
index 5bb44013fd..ec8f15eb9b 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-base/package.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-base/package.js
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ Package.on_use(function (api) {
   // {{currentUser}}.  If not, no biggie.
   api.use('handlebars', 'client', {weak: true});
 
+  // Allow us to detect 'autopublish', and publish some Meteor.users fields if
+  // it's loaded.
+  api.use('autopublish', 'server', {weak: true});
+
   api.exportSymbol('Accounts');
 
   api.add_files('accounts_common.js', ['client', 'server']);
diff --git a/packages/accounts-facebook/facebook.js b/packages/accounts-facebook/facebook.js
index 1fb297ca25..4517bf1d5a 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-facebook/facebook.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-facebook/facebook.js
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     Facebook.requestCredential(options, credentialRequestCompleteCallback);
   };
 } else {
-
   Accounts.addAutopublishFields({
     // publish all fields including access token, which can legitimately
     // be used from the client (if transmitted over ssl or on
diff --git a/packages/accounts-github/github.js b/packages/accounts-github/github.js
index fb0cb7f1a2..bf71477695 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-github/github.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-github/github.js
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     Github.requestCredential(options, credentialRequestCompleteCallback);
   };
 } else {
-
   Accounts.addAutopublishFields({
     // not sure whether the github api can be used from the browser,
     // thus not sure if we should be sending access tokens; but we do it
diff --git a/packages/accounts-google/google.js b/packages/accounts-google/google.js
index 0d9a77ab6c..08538f7ae3 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-google/google.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-google/google.js
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     Google.requestCredential(options, credentialRequestCompleteCallback);
   };
 } else {
-
   Accounts.addAutopublishFields({
     forLoggedInUser: _.map(
       // publish access token since it can be used from the client (if
diff --git a/packages/accounts-meetup/meetup.js b/packages/accounts-meetup/meetup.js
index f4ed38e482..08e8ec0938 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-meetup/meetup.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-meetup/meetup.js
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     Meetup.requestCredential(options, credentialRequestCompleteCallback);
   };
 } else {
-
   Accounts.addAutopublishFields({
     // publish all fields including access token, which can legitimately
     // be used from the client (if transmitted over ssl or on
@@ -20,6 +19,4 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     forLoggedInUser: ['services.meetup'],
     forOtherUsers: ['services.meetup.id']
   });
-
-
 }
diff --git a/packages/accounts-twitter/twitter.js b/packages/accounts-twitter/twitter.js
index 19c4a9e209..176d82a655 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-twitter/twitter.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-twitter/twitter.js
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     Twitter.requestCredential(options, credentialRequestCompleteCallback);
   };
 } else {
-
   var autopublishedFields = _.map(
     // don't send access token. https://dev.twitter.com/discussions/5025
     Twitter.whitelistedFields.concat(['id', 'screenName']),
diff --git a/packages/accounts-weibo/weibo.js b/packages/accounts-weibo/weibo.js
index f1eaf95518..f55ec19bc7 100644
--- a/packages/accounts-weibo/weibo.js
+++ b/packages/accounts-weibo/weibo.js
@@ -12,12 +12,10 @@ if (Meteor.isClient) {
     Weibo.requestCredential(options, credentialRequestCompleteCallback);
   };
 } else {
-
   Accounts.addAutopublishFields({
     // publish all fields including access token, which can legitimately
     // be used from the client (if transmitted over ssl or on localhost)
     forLoggedInUser: ['services.weibo'],
     forOtherUsers: ['services.weibo.screenName']
   });
-
 }
diff --git a/packages/autopublish/autopublish.js b/packages/autopublish/autopublish.js
deleted file mode 100644
index e45f4dee64..0000000000
--- a/packages/autopublish/autopublish.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Meteor.server.autopublish();
diff --git a/packages/autopublish/package.js b/packages/autopublish/package.js
index 9e824aa799..960a18afd8 100644
--- a/packages/autopublish/package.js
+++ b/packages/autopublish/package.js
@@ -2,7 +2,5 @@ Package.describe({
   summary: "Automatically publish the entire database to all clients"
 });
 
-Package.on_use(function (api) {
-  api.use('livedata', 'server');
-  api.add_files("autopublish.js", "server");
-});
+// This package is empty; its presence is detected by livedata and
+// accounts-base.
diff --git a/packages/livedata/livedata_connection.js b/packages/livedata/livedata_connection.js
index 8efecf5af8..839e9f383a 100644
--- a/packages/livedata/livedata_connection.js
+++ b/packages/livedata/livedata_connection.js
@@ -906,8 +906,8 @@ _.extend(Connection.prototype, {
 
     // Mark all named subscriptions which are ready (ie, we already called the
     // ready callback) as needing to be revived.
-    // XXX We should also block reconnect quiescence until autopublish is done
-    //     re-publishing to avoid flicker!
+    // XXX We should also block reconnect quiescence until unnamed subscriptions
+    //     (eg, autopublish) are done re-publishing to avoid flicker!
     self._subsBeingRevived = {};
     _.each(self._subscriptions, function (sub, id) {
       if (sub.ready)
diff --git a/packages/livedata/livedata_server.js b/packages/livedata/livedata_server.js
index 6627159b44..bd9fe3d6b3 100644
--- a/packages/livedata/livedata_server.js
+++ b/packages/livedata/livedata_server.js
@@ -1024,9 +1024,6 @@ Server = function () {
 
   self.method_handlers = {};
 
-  self.on_autopublish = []; // array of func if AP disabled, null if enabled
-  self.warned_about_autopublish = false;
-
   self.sessions = {}; // map from id to session
 
   self.stream_server = new StreamServer;
@@ -1176,7 +1173,7 @@ _.extend(Server.prototype, {
       return;
     }
 
-    if (!self.on_autopublish && !options.is_auto) {
+    if (Package.autopublish && !options.is_auto) {
       // They have autopublish on, yet they're trying to manually
       // picking stuff to publish. They probably should turn off
       // autopublish. (This check isn't perfect -- if you create a
@@ -1307,25 +1304,6 @@ _.extend(Server.prototype, {
     if (exception)
       throw exception;
     return result;
-  },
-
-  // A much more elegant way to do this would be: let any autopublish
-  // provider (eg, mongo-livedata) declare a weak package dependency
-  // on the autopublish package, then have that package simply set a
-  // flag that eg the Collection constructor checks, and autopublishes
-  // if necessary.
-  autopublish: function () {
-    var self = this;
-    _.each(self.on_autopublish || [], function (f) { f(); });
-    self.on_autopublish = null;
-  },
-
-  onAutopublish: function (f) {
-    var self = this;
-    if (self.on_autopublish)
-      self.on_autopublish.push(f);
-    else
-      f();
   }
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/livedata/package.js b/packages/livedata/package.js
index 14c0f3c7d3..a7cb9def76 100644
--- a/packages/livedata/package.js
+++ b/packages/livedata/package.js
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ Package.on_use(function (api) {
   // Detect whether or not the user wants us to audit argument checks.
   api.use(['audit-argument-checks'], 'server', {weak: true});
 
+  // Allow us to detect 'autopublish', so we can print a warning if the user
+  // runs Meteor.publish while it's loaded.
+  api.use('autopublish', 'server', {weak: true});
+
   api.exportSymbol('DDP');
   api.exportSymbol('DDPServer', 'server');
 
diff --git a/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js b/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js
index fa98d62ad2..9288a3d710 100644
--- a/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js
+++ b/packages/mongo-livedata/collection.js
@@ -174,12 +174,12 @@ Meteor.Collection = function (name, options) {
   self._defineMutationMethods();
 
   // autopublish
-  if (!options._preventAutopublish &&
-      self._connection && self._connection.onAutopublish)
-    self._connection.onAutopublish(function () {
-      var handler = function () { return self.find(); };
-      self._connection.publish(null, handler, {is_auto: true});
-    });
+  if (Package.autopublish && !options._preventAutopublish && self._connection
+      && self._connection.publish) {
+    self._connection.publish(null, function () {
+      return self.find();
+    }, {is_auto: true});
+  }
 };
 
 ///
diff --git a/packages/mongo-livedata/package.js b/packages/mongo-livedata/package.js
index 33e673dd4c..d674e56643 100644
--- a/packages/mongo-livedata/package.js
+++ b/packages/mongo-livedata/package.js
@@ -20,8 +20,12 @@ Package.on_use(function (api) {
           ['client', 'server']);
   api.use('check', ['client', 'server']);
 
+  // Allow us to detect 'insecure'.
   api.use('insecure', {weak: true});
 
+  // Allow us to detect 'autopublish', and publish collections if it's loaded.
+  api.use('autopublish', 'server', {weak: true});
+
   api.exportSymbol('_MongoLivedataTest', 'server');
 
   api.add_files('mongo_driver.js', 'server');