diff --git a/bin/internal/engine.version b/bin/internal/engine.version
index d3e1fb5184a..65b5d1b86bb 100644
--- a/bin/internal/engine.version
+++ b/bin/internal/engine.version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-f4951df193a7966f9ed4da43d555eee0913d84d1
+a48cd16e077778a7aa5908e4faa4da07714260f2
diff --git a/packages/flutter/lib/src/scheduler/binding.dart b/packages/flutter/lib/src/scheduler/binding.dart
index d0b83853e47..f33ba8601dd 100644
--- a/packages/flutter/lib/src/scheduler/binding.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter/lib/src/scheduler/binding.dart
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ mixin SchedulerBinding on BindingBase, ServicesBinding {
     window.onBeginFrame = _handleBeginFrame;
     window.onDrawFrame = _handleDrawFrame;
     SystemChannels.lifecycle.setMessageHandler(_handleLifecycleMessage);
+    readInitialLifecycleStateFromNativeWindow();
   }
 
   /// The current [SchedulerBinding], if one has been created.
@@ -225,6 +226,23 @@ mixin SchedulerBinding on BindingBase, ServicesBinding {
   AppLifecycleState get lifecycleState => _lifecycleState;
   AppLifecycleState _lifecycleState;
 
+  /// Initializes the [lifecycleState] with the [initialLifecycleState] from the
+  /// window.
+  ///
+  /// Once the [lifecycleState] is populated through any means (including this
+  /// method), this method will do nothing. This is because the
+  /// [initialLifecycleState] may already be stale and it no longer makes sense
+  /// to use the initial state at dart vm startup as the current state anymore.
+  ///
+  /// The latest state should be obtained by subscribing to
+  /// [WidgetsBindingObserver.didChangeAppLifecycleState].
+  @protected
+  void readInitialLifecycleStateFromNativeWindow() {
+    if (_lifecycleState == null && _parseAppLifecycleMessage(window.initialLifecycleState) != null) {
+      _handleLifecycleMessage(window.initialLifecycleState);
+    }
+  }
+
   /// Called when the application lifecycle state changes.
   ///
   /// Notifies all the observers using
diff --git a/packages/flutter/test/scheduler/lifecycle_test.dart b/packages/flutter/test/scheduler/lifecycle_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7506c1475ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/flutter/test/scheduler/lifecycle_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright 2019 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/scheduler.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  testWidgets('initialLifecycleState is used to init state paused', (WidgetTester tester) async {
+    // The lifecycleState is null initially in tests as there is no
+    // initialLifecycleState.
+    expect(SchedulerBinding.instance.lifecycleState, equals(null));
+    // Mock the Window to provide paused as the AppLifecycleState
+    final TestWidgetsFlutterBinding binding = tester.binding;
+    // Use paused as the initial state.
+    binding.window.initialLifecycleStateTestValue = 'AppLifecycleState.paused';
+    binding.readTestInitialLifecycleStateFromNativeWindow(); // Re-attempt the initializaiton.
+
+    // The lifecycleState should now be the state we passed above,
+    // even though no lifecycle event was fired from the platform.
+    expect(SchedulerBinding.instance.lifecycleState.toString(), equals('AppLifecycleState.paused'));
+  });
+}
diff --git a/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/binding.dart b/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/binding.dart
index eae35756a10..1a4bd3819ce 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/binding.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/binding.dart
@@ -257,6 +257,12 @@ abstract class TestWidgetsFlutterBinding extends BindingBase
     });
   }
 
+  /// Re-attempts the initialization of the lifecycle state after providing
+  /// test values in [TestWindow.initialLifecycleStateTestValue].
+  void readTestInitialLifecycleStateFromNativeWindow() {
+    readInitialLifecycleStateFromNativeWindow();
+  }
+
   Size _surfaceSize;
 
   /// Artificially changes the surface size to `size` on the Widget binding,
diff --git a/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/window.dart b/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/window.dart
index 8e5b5e93898..d4111f7d848 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/window.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_test/lib/src/window.dart
@@ -151,6 +151,14 @@ class TestWindow implements Window {
     _window.onLocaleChanged = callback;
   }
 
+  @override
+  String get initialLifecycleState => _initialLifecycleStateTestValue;
+  String _initialLifecycleStateTestValue;
+  /// Sets a faked initialLifecycleState for testing.
+  set initialLifecycleStateTestValue(String state) {
+    _initialLifecycleStateTestValue = state;
+  }
+
   @override
   double get textScaleFactor => _textScaleFactorTestValue ?? _window.textScaleFactor;
   double _textScaleFactorTestValue;