diff --git a/celery/__init__.py b/celery/__init__.py
index a7b78fc1087..bd781b5e67e 100644
--- a/celery/__init__.py
+++ b/celery/__init__.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 old_module, new_module = recreate_module(__name__,  # pragma: no cover
     by_module={
         "celery.app":       ["Celery", "bugreport"],
-        "celery.app.state": ["current_app", "current_task"],
+        "celery.state":     ["current_app", "current_task"],
         "celery.canvas":    ["chain", "chord", "chunks",
                              "group", "subtask", "xmap", "xstarmap"],
         "celery.utils":     ["uuid"],
diff --git a/celery/app/__init__.py b/celery/app/__init__.py
index 42284132fc9..1c58a74d9f8 100644
--- a/celery/app/__init__.py
+++ b/celery/app/__init__.py
@@ -14,13 +14,13 @@
 import os
 
 from celery.local import Proxy
-
-from . import state
-from .state import (  # noqa
+from celery import state
+from celery.state import (  # noqa
         set_default_app,
         get_current_app as current_app,
         get_current_task as current_task,
 )
+
 from .base import Celery, AppPickler  # noqa
 
 #: Proxy always returning the app set as default.
diff --git a/celery/app/base.py b/celery/app/base.py
index 130440d9d41..52a4f8cdcc6 100644
--- a/celery/app/base.py
+++ b/celery/app/base.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 from celery.exceptions import AlwaysEagerIgnored
 from celery.loaders import get_loader_cls
 from celery.local import PromiseProxy, maybe_evaluate
+from celery.state import _tls, get_current_app
 from celery.utils.functional import first
 from celery.utils.imports import instantiate, symbol_by_name
 
@@ -34,7 +35,6 @@
 from .builtins import shared_task, load_shared_tasks
 from .defaults import DEFAULTS, find_deprecated_settings
 from .registry import TaskRegistry
-from .state import _tls, get_current_app
 from .utils import AppPickler, Settings, bugreport, _unpickle_app
 
 
diff --git a/celery/app/builtins.py b/celery/app/builtins.py
index 8877ed10550..68ea690e2c1 100644
--- a/celery/app/builtins.py
+++ b/celery/app/builtins.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 from itertools import starmap
 
+from celery.state import get_current_task
 from celery.utils import uuid
 
 #: global list of functions defining tasks that should be
@@ -105,7 +106,6 @@ def chunks(task, it, n):
 def add_group_task(app):
     _app = app
     from celery.canvas import subtask
-    from celery.app.state import get_current_task
     from celery.result import from_serializable
 
     class Group(app.Task):
diff --git a/celery/app/log.py b/celery/app/log.py
index fa30c0b86d0..49dd3b70232 100644
--- a/celery/app/log.py
+++ b/celery/app/log.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from kombu.log import NullHandler
 
 from celery import signals
+from celery.state import get_current_task
 from celery.utils import isatty
 from celery.utils.compat import WatchedFileHandler
 from celery.utils.log import (
@@ -17,8 +18,6 @@
 )
 from celery.utils.term import colored
 
-from .state import get_current_task
-
 is_py3k = sys.version_info[0] == 3
 
 
diff --git a/celery/app/task.py b/celery/app/task.py
index d7d41728eb1..60d8cc40d9a 100644
--- a/celery/app/task.py
+++ b/celery/app/task.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 from celery import current_app
 from celery import states
 from celery.__compat__ import class_property
+from celery.state import get_current_task
 from celery.datastructures import ExceptionInfo
 from celery.exceptions import MaxRetriesExceededError, RetryTaskError
 from celery.local import LocalStack
@@ -32,7 +33,6 @@
 from celery.utils.mail import ErrorMail
 
 from .annotations import resolve_all as resolve_all_annotations
-from .state import get_current_task
 from .registry import _unpickle_task
 
 #: extracts options related to publishing a message from a dict.
diff --git a/celery/backends/__init__.py b/celery/backends/__init__.py
index ff8f8ac6b6e..322f0da7453 100644
--- a/celery/backends/__init__.py
+++ b/celery/backends/__init__.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 
 from kombu.utils.url import _parse_url
 
-from celery.app.state import current_app
 from celery.local import Proxy
+from celery.state import current_app
 from celery.utils.imports import symbol_by_name
 from celery.utils.functional import memoize
 
diff --git a/celery/loaders/__init__.py b/celery/loaders/__init__.py
index aeda05c48c8..6143bdf3c33 100644
--- a/celery/loaders/__init__.py
+++ b/celery/loaders/__init__.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 """
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
+from celery.state import current_app
 from celery.utils import deprecated
 from celery.utils.imports import symbol_by_name
 
@@ -28,12 +29,10 @@ def get_loader_cls(loader):
 @deprecated(deprecation="2.5", removal="3.0",
         alternative="celery.current_app.loader")
 def current_loader():
-    from celery.app.state import current_app
     return current_app.loader
 
 
 @deprecated(deprecation="2.5", removal="3.0",
             alternative="celery.current_app.conf")
 def load_settings():
-    from celery.app.state import current_app
     return current_app.conf
diff --git a/celery/app/state.py b/celery/state.py
similarity index 74%
rename from celery/app/state.py
rename to celery/state.py
index 510008a94f3..a0daf5f51a4 100644
--- a/celery/app/state.py
+++ b/celery/state.py
@@ -19,11 +19,15 @@ class _TLS(threading.local):
 
 def set_default_app(app):
     global default_app
-    default_app = app
+    if default_app is None:
+        default_app = app
 
 
 def get_current_app():
-    return getattr(_tls, "current_app", None) or default_app
+    if default_app is None:
+        # creates the default app, but we want to defer that.
+        import celery.app  # noqa
+    return _tls.current_app or default_app
 
 
 def get_current_task():
diff --git a/celery/task/__init__.py b/celery/task/__init__.py
index 5eb7e6752a3..d3cb26f71e5 100644
--- a/celery/task/__init__.py
+++ b/celery/task/__init__.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 """
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-from celery.app.state import current_app, current_task as current
+from celery.state import current_app, current_task as current
 from celery.__compat__ import MagicModule, recreate_module
 from celery.local import Proxy
 
diff --git a/celery/task/sets.py b/celery/task/sets.py
index be771d983cd..ec50179a65e 100644
--- a/celery/task/sets.py
+++ b/celery/task/sets.py
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 from __future__ import with_statement
 
+from celery.state import get_current_task
 from celery.app import app_or_default
-from celery.app.state import get_current_task
 from celery.canvas import subtask, maybe_subtask  # noqa
 from celery.utils import uuid
 from celery.utils.compat import UserList
diff --git a/celery/task/trace.py b/celery/task/trace.py
index f430305e9f0..84616843508 100644
--- a/celery/task/trace.py
+++ b/celery/task/trace.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
 from celery import current_app
 from celery import states, signals
-from celery.app.state import _task_stack
+from celery.state import _task_stack
 from celery.app.task import BaseTask, Context
 from celery.datastructures import ExceptionInfo
 from celery.exceptions import RetryTaskError
diff --git a/celery/tests/app/test_builtins.py b/celery/tests/app/test_builtins.py
index cec5f214c28..0de67846329 100644
--- a/celery/tests/app/test_builtins.py
+++ b/celery/tests/app/test_builtins.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from celery import current_app as app, group, task, chord
 from celery.app import builtins
-from celery.app.state import _task_stack
+from celery.state import _task_stack
 from celery.tests.utils import Case
 
 
diff --git a/celery/tests/app/test_log.py b/celery/tests/app/test_log.py
index 75dd43e2aa8..7c6468df608 100644
--- a/celery/tests/app/test_log.py
+++ b/celery/tests/app/test_log.py
@@ -230,11 +230,11 @@ def test_task():
             pass
         test_task.logger.handlers = []
         self.task = test_task
-        from celery.app.state import _task_stack
+        from celery.state import _task_stack
         _task_stack.push(test_task)
 
     def tearDown(self):
-        from celery.app.state import _task_stack
+        from celery.state import _task_stack
         _task_stack.pop()
 
     def setup_logger(self, *args, **kwargs):
diff --git a/celery/tests/tasks/test_sets.py b/celery/tests/tasks/test_sets.py
index f0de1c3e010..22826359ca4 100644
--- a/celery/tests/tasks/test_sets.py
+++ b/celery/tests/tasks/test_sets.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def send(self, *args, **kwargs):
         @current_app.task
         def xyz():
             pass
-        from celery.app.state import _task_stack
+        from celery.state import _task_stack
         _task_stack.push(xyz)
         try:
             ts.apply_async(publisher=Publisher())
diff --git a/celery/tests/worker/test_worker.py b/celery/tests/worker/test_worker.py
index 0e4c2acd0a9..331eb34544d 100644
--- a/celery/tests/worker/test_worker.py
+++ b/celery/tests/worker/test_worker.py
@@ -803,7 +803,7 @@ def test_use_pidfile(self, create_pidlock):
     def test_process_initializer(self, set_mp_process_title, _signals):
         from celery import Celery
         from celery import signals
-        from celery.app.state import _tls
+        from celery.state import _tls
         from celery.concurrency.processes import process_initializer
         from celery.concurrency.processes import (WORKER_SIGRESET,
                                                   WORKER_SIGIGNORE)