diff --git a/dlls/shell32/systray.c b/dlls/shell32/systray.c
index a1a85c84def..a99912fc158 100644
--- a/dlls/shell32/systray.c
+++ b/dlls/shell32/systray.c
@@ -38,49 +38,6 @@ WINE_DEFAULT_DEBUG_CHANNEL(systray);
 
 const static WCHAR classname[] = /* Shell_TrayWnd */ {'S','h','e','l','l','_','T','r','a','y','W','n','d','\0'};
 
-/* start timeout of 1 second */
-#define SYSTRAY_START_TIMEOUT 1000
-
-static BOOL start_systray_process(void)
-{
-    STARTUPINFOW          sinfo;
-    PROCESS_INFORMATION   pinfo;
-    WCHAR                 command_line[] = {'e','x','p','l','o','r','e','r',' ','/','s','y','s','t','r','a','y',0};
-    static const WCHAR    event_name[] = {'W','i','n','e','S','y','s','t','r','a','y','I','n','i','t','e','d',0};
-    HANDLE                systray_ready_event;
-    DWORD                 wait;
-
-    TRACE("No tray window found, starting %s\n", debugstr_w(command_line));
-
-    ZeroMemory(&sinfo, sizeof(sinfo));
-    sinfo.cb = sizeof(sinfo);
-
-    if (CreateProcessW(NULL, command_line, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, NULL, &sinfo, &pinfo) == 0)
-    {
-        ERR("Could not start %s, error 0x%lx\n", debugstr_w(command_line), GetLastError());
-        return FALSE;
-    }
- 
-    CloseHandle(pinfo.hThread);
-    CloseHandle(pinfo.hProcess);
-
-    systray_ready_event = CreateEventW(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, event_name);
-    if (!systray_ready_event) return FALSE;
-
-    /* don't guess how long to wait, just wait for process to signal to us
-     * that it has created the Shell_TrayWnd class before continuing */
-    wait = WaitForSingleObject(systray_ready_event, SYSTRAY_START_TIMEOUT);
-    CloseHandle(systray_ready_event);
-
-    if (wait == WAIT_TIMEOUT)
-    {
-        ERR("timeout waiting for %s to start\n", debugstr_w(command_line));
-        return FALSE;
-    }
-
-    return TRUE;
-}
-
 /*************************************************************************
  * Shell_NotifyIcon			[SHELL32.296]
  * Shell_NotifyIconA			[SHELL32.297]
@@ -126,16 +83,6 @@ BOOL WINAPI Shell_NotifyIconW(DWORD dwMessage, PNOTIFYICONDATAW nid)
     TRACE("dwMessage = %ld\n", dwMessage);
 
     tray = FindWindowExW(0, NULL, classname, NULL);
-
-    /* this isn't how native does it - it assumes that Explorer is always
-     * running */
-    if (!tray)
-    {
-        if (!start_systray_process())
-            return FALSE;
-        tray = FindWindowExW(0, NULL, classname, NULL);
-    }
-
     if (!tray) return FALSE;
 
     cds.dwData = dwMessage;
diff --git a/programs/explorer/desktop.c b/programs/explorer/desktop.c
index 032a1c295d3..7c262215a9d 100644
--- a/programs/explorer/desktop.c
+++ b/programs/explorer/desktop.c
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ void manage_desktop(void)
     SetWindowLongPtrW( hwnd, GWLP_WNDPROC, (LONG_PTR)desktop_wnd_proc );
 
     WINE_TRACE( "explorer starting on hwnd %p\n", hwnd );
+
+    initialize_systray();
     while (GetMessageW( &msg, 0, 0, 0 )) DispatchMessageW( &msg );
+
     WINE_TRACE( "explorer exiting for hwnd %p\n", hwnd );
 }
diff --git a/programs/explorer/explorer.c b/programs/explorer/explorer.c
index 25287b70422..32c705570d5 100644
--- a/programs/explorer/explorer.c
+++ b/programs/explorer/explorer.c
@@ -24,15 +24,11 @@
 
 #include <wine/debug.h>
 #include "explorer_private.h"
-#include <systray.h>
 
 WINE_DEFAULT_DEBUG_CHANNEL(explorer);
 
-unsigned int shell_refs = 0;
-
 typedef struct parametersTAG {
     BOOL    explorer_mode;
-    BOOL    systray_mode;
     BOOL    desktop_mode;
     WCHAR   root[MAX_PATH];
     WCHAR   selection[MAX_PATH];
@@ -139,11 +135,6 @@ static void ParseCommandLine(LPSTR commandline,parameters_struct *parameters)
                 CopyPathRoot(parameters->root,
                         parameters->selection);
         }
-        else if (strncmp(p,"systray",7)==0)
-        {
-            parameters->systray_mode = TRUE;
-            p+=7;
-        }
         else if (strncmp(p,"desktop",7)==0)
         {
             parameters->desktop_mode = TRUE;
@@ -159,44 +150,6 @@ static void ParseCommandLine(LPSTR commandline,parameters_struct *parameters)
     }
 }
 
-static void do_systray_loop(void)
-{
-    initialize_systray();
-
-    while (TRUE)
-    {
-        const int timeout = 5;
-        MSG message;
-        DWORD res;
-
-        res = MsgWaitForMultipleObjectsEx(0, NULL, shell_refs ? INFINITE : timeout * 1000,
-                                          QS_ALLINPUT, MWMO_WAITALL);
-        if (res == WAIT_TIMEOUT) break;
-
-        res = PeekMessage(&message, 0, 0, 0, PM_REMOVE);
-        if (!res) continue;
-
-        if (message.message == WM_QUIT)
-        {
-            WINE_FIXME("Somebody sent the shell a WM_QUIT message, should we reboot?");
-
-            /* Sending the tray window a WM_QUIT message is actually a
-            * tip given by some programming websites as a way of
-            * forcing a reboot! let's delay implementing this hack
-            * until we find a program that really needs it. for now
-            * just bail out.
-            */
-
-            break;
-        }
-
-        TranslateMessage(&message);
-        DispatchMessage(&message);
-    }
-
-    shutdown_systray();
-}
-
 int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hinstance,
                    HINSTANCE previnstance,
                    LPSTR cmdline,
@@ -217,11 +170,6 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hinstance,
     ParseCommandLine(cmdline,&parameters);
     len = lstrlenW(winefile) +1;
 
-    if (parameters.systray_mode)
-    {
-        do_systray_loop();
-        return 0;
-    }
     if (parameters.desktop_mode)
     {
         manage_desktop();
diff --git a/programs/explorer/explorer_private.h b/programs/explorer/explorer_private.h
index e2f00108296..859d1a632d3 100644
--- a/programs/explorer/explorer_private.h
+++ b/programs/explorer/explorer_private.h
@@ -22,5 +22,6 @@
 #define __WINE_EXPLORER_PRIVATE_H
 
 extern void manage_desktop(void);
+extern void initialize_systray(void);
 
 #endif  /* __WINE_EXPLORER_PRIVATE_H */
diff --git a/programs/explorer/systray.c b/programs/explorer/systray.c
index 7520f8b343a..adf8460980a 100644
--- a/programs/explorer/systray.c
+++ b/programs/explorer/systray.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 #include <wine/debug.h>
 #include <wine/list.h>
 
-#include "systray.h"
+#include "explorer_private.h"
 
 WINE_DEFAULT_DEBUG_CHANNEL(systray);
 
@@ -127,8 +127,8 @@ static LRESULT WINAPI adaptor_wndproc(HWND window, UINT msg,
             ret = PostMessage(icon->owner, icon->callback_message, (WPARAM) icon->id, (LPARAM) msg);
             if (!ret && (GetLastError() == ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE))
             {
-                WINE_ERR("application window was destroyed without removing "
-                    "notification icon, removing automatically\n");
+                WINE_WARN("application window was destroyed without removing "
+                          "notification icon, removing automatically\n");
                 DestroyWindow(window);
             }
             return 0;
@@ -140,9 +140,6 @@ static LRESULT WINAPI adaptor_wndproc(HWND window, UINT msg,
             list_remove(&icon->entry);
             DestroyIcon(icon->image);
             HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), 0, icon);
-
-            shell_refs--;
-            WINE_TRACE("shell now has %d refs\n", shell_refs);
             break;
     }
 
@@ -236,9 +233,6 @@ static void add_icon(const NOTIFYICONDATAW *nid)
     list_add_tail(&tray.icons, &icon->entry);
 
     modify_icon(nid);
-
-    shell_refs++;
-    WINE_TRACE("shell now has %d refs\n", shell_refs);
 }
 
 static void delete_icon(const NOTIFYICONDATAW *nid)
@@ -365,11 +359,9 @@ static BOOL is_systray_hidden(void)
 void initialize_systray(void)
 {
     WNDCLASSEX class;
-    HANDLE event;
     static const WCHAR classname[] = /* Shell_TrayWnd */ {'S','h','e','l','l','_','T','r','a','y','W','n','d',0};
     static const WCHAR winname[]   = /* Wine Systray Listener */
         {'W','i','n','e',' ','S','y','s','t','r','a','y',' ','L','i','s','t','e','n','e','r',0};
-    static const WCHAR    event_name[] = {'W','i','n','e','S','y','s','t','r','a','y','I','n','i','t','e','d',0};
 
     WINE_TRACE("initiaizing\n");
 
@@ -419,17 +411,4 @@ void initialize_systray(void)
         WINE_ERR("Could not create tray window\n");
         return;
     }
-
-    /* tell shell32 that we're ready */
-    event = OpenEventW(EVENT_MODIFY_STATE, FALSE, event_name);
-    if (event)
-    {
-        SetEvent(event);
-        CloseHandle(event);
-    }
-}
-
-void shutdown_systray(void)
-{
-    DestroyWindow(tray.window);
 }
diff --git a/programs/explorer/systray.h b/programs/explorer/systray.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 38fc40b452f..00000000000
--- a/programs/explorer/systray.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (C) 2004 Mike Hearn, for CodeWeavers
- *
- * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
- * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
- * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
- * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
- * Lesser General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
- * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
- * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
- */
-
-void initialize_systray(void);
-void shutdown_systray(void);
-
-/* when this drops to zero, a few seconds later the shell will shut down */
-extern unsigned int shell_refs;