diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/ng_module_ref.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/ng_module_ref.ts
index a5b6e4f023..9544f3c2eb 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/ng_module_ref.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/ng_module_ref.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 import {Injector} from '../di/injector';
 import {INJECTOR} from '../di/injector_compatibility';
 import {InjectFlags} from '../di/interface/injector';
-import {StaticProvider} from '../di/interface/provider';
 import {R3Injector, createInjector} from '../di/r3_injector';
 import {Type} from '../interface/type';
 import {ComponentFactoryResolver as viewEngine_ComponentFactoryResolver} from '../linker/component_factory_resolver';
@@ -26,12 +25,6 @@ import {maybeUnwrapFn} from './util/misc_utils';
 
 export interface NgModuleType<T = any> extends Type<T> { ɵmod: NgModuleDef<T>; }
 
-const COMPONENT_FACTORY_RESOLVER: StaticProvider = {
-  provide: viewEngine_ComponentFactoryResolver,
-  useClass: ComponentFactoryResolver,
-  deps: [viewEngine_NgModuleRef],
-};
-
 export class NgModuleRef<T> extends viewEngine_NgModuleRef<T> implements InternalNgModuleRef<T> {
   // tslint:disable-next-line:require-internal-with-underscore
   _bootstrapComponents: Type<any>[] = [];
@@ -41,6 +34,14 @@ export class NgModuleRef<T> extends viewEngine_NgModuleRef<T> implements Interna
   instance: T;
   destroyCbs: (() => void)[]|null = [];
 
+  // When bootstrapping a module we have a dependency graph that looks like this:
+  // ApplicationRef -> ComponentFactoryResolver -> NgModuleRef. The problem is that if the
+  // module being resolved tries to inject the ComponentFactoryResolver, it'll create a
+  // circular dependency which will result in a runtime error, because the injector doesn't
+  // exist yet. We work around the issue by creating the ComponentFactoryResolver ourselves
+  // and providing it, rather than letting the injector resolve it.
+  readonly componentFactoryResolver: ComponentFactoryResolver = new ComponentFactoryResolver(this);
+
   constructor(ngModuleType: Type<T>, public _parent: Injector|null) {
     super();
     const ngModuleDef = getNgModuleDef(ngModuleType);
@@ -49,20 +50,15 @@ export class NgModuleRef<T> extends viewEngine_NgModuleRef<T> implements Interna
                      `NgModule '${stringify(ngModuleType)}' is not a subtype of 'NgModuleType'.`);
 
     const ngLocaleIdDef = getNgLocaleIdDef(ngModuleType);
-    if (ngLocaleIdDef) {
-      setLocaleId(ngLocaleIdDef);
-    }
-
+    ngLocaleIdDef && setLocaleId(ngLocaleIdDef);
     this._bootstrapComponents = maybeUnwrapFn(ngModuleDef !.bootstrap);
-    const additionalProviders: StaticProvider[] = [
-      {
-        provide: viewEngine_NgModuleRef,
-        useValue: this,
-      },
-      COMPONENT_FACTORY_RESOLVER
-    ];
     this._r3Injector = createInjector(
-        ngModuleType, _parent, additionalProviders, stringify(ngModuleType)) as R3Injector;
+        ngModuleType, _parent,
+        [
+          {provide: viewEngine_NgModuleRef, useValue: this},
+          {provide: viewEngine_ComponentFactoryResolver, useValue: this.componentFactoryResolver}
+        ],
+        stringify(ngModuleType)) as R3Injector;
     this.instance = this.get(ngModuleType);
   }
 
@@ -74,10 +70,6 @@ export class NgModuleRef<T> extends viewEngine_NgModuleRef<T> implements Interna
     return this._r3Injector.get(token, notFoundValue, injectFlags);
   }
 
-  get componentFactoryResolver(): viewEngine_ComponentFactoryResolver {
-    return this.get(viewEngine_ComponentFactoryResolver);
-  }
-
   destroy(): void {
     ngDevMode && assertDefined(this.destroyCbs, 'NgModule already destroyed');
     const injector = this._r3Injector;
diff --git a/packages/core/test/acceptance/ng_module_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/acceptance/ng_module_spec.ts
index ec9c5be0d8..105d6d5c30 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/acceptance/ng_module_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/acceptance/ng_module_spec.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  */
 
 import {CommonModule} from '@angular/common';
-import {CUSTOM_ELEMENTS_SCHEMA, Component, Injectable, NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA, NgModule, ɵsetClassMetadata as setClassMetadata, ɵɵdefineComponent as defineComponent, ɵɵdefineInjector as defineInjector, ɵɵdefineNgModule as defineNgModule, ɵɵelement as element} from '@angular/core';
+import {CUSTOM_ELEMENTS_SCHEMA, Component, ComponentFactory, Injectable, NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA, NgModule, NgModuleRef, ɵsetClassMetadata as setClassMetadata, ɵɵdefineComponent as defineComponent, ɵɵdefineInjector as defineInjector, ɵɵdefineNgModule as defineNgModule, ɵɵelement as element} from '@angular/core';
 import {TestBed} from '@angular/core/testing';
 import {expect} from '@angular/platform-browser/testing/src/matchers';
 import {modifiedInIvy, onlyInIvy} from '@angular/private/testing';
@@ -474,4 +474,25 @@ describe('NgModule', () => {
         });
 
   });
+
+  it('should be able to use ComponentFactoryResolver from the NgModuleRef inside the module constructor',
+     () => {
+       let factory: ComponentFactory<TestCmp>;
+
+       @NgModule({
+         declarations: [TestCmp],
+         exports: [TestCmp],
+         entryComponents: [TestCmp]  // Only necessary for ViewEngine
+       })
+       class MyModule {
+         constructor(ngModuleRef: NgModuleRef<any>) {
+           factory = ngModuleRef.componentFactoryResolver.resolveComponentFactory(TestCmp);
+         }
+       }
+
+       TestBed.configureTestingModule({imports: [MyModule]});
+       TestBed.createComponent(TestCmp);
+       expect(factory !.componentType).toBe(TestCmp);
+     });
+
 });