diff --git a/scrapy/commands/shell.py b/scrapy/commands/shell.py
index e2ef1545e..ff8c0d156 100644
--- a/scrapy/commands/shell.py
+++ b/scrapy/commands/shell.py
@@ -58,14 +58,13 @@ class Command(ScrapyCommand):
         crawler.engine = crawler._create_engine()
         crawler.engine.start()
 
-        self.crawler_process.start(start_reactor=False)
         self._start_crawler_thread()
 
         shell = Shell(crawler, update_vars=self.update_vars, code=opts.code)
         shell.start(url=url)
 
     def _start_crawler_thread(self):
-        t = Thread(target=self.crawler_process._start_reactor,
+        t = Thread(target=self.crawler_process.start,
                    kwargs={'stop_after_crawl': False})
         t.daemon = True
         t.start()
diff --git a/scrapy/crawler.py b/scrapy/crawler.py
index eb174a7d8..00de7d0c0 100644
--- a/scrapy/crawler.py
+++ b/scrapy/crawler.py
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ class CrawlerProcess(CrawlerRunner):
         super(CrawlerProcess, self).__init__(settings)
         install_shutdown_handlers(self._signal_shutdown)
         self.stopping = False
+        self.log_observer = log.start_from_settings(self.settings)
+        log.scrapy_info(settings)
 
     def _signal_shutdown(self, signum, _):
         install_shutdown_handlers(self._signal_kill)
@@ -131,13 +133,7 @@ class CrawlerProcess(CrawlerRunner):
         self._stop_logging()
         reactor.callFromThread(self._stop_reactor)
 
-    def start(self, stop_after_crawl=True, start_reactor=True):
-        self.log_observer = log.start_from_settings(self.settings)
-        log.scrapy_info(self.settings)
-        if start_reactor:
-            self._start_reactor(stop_after_crawl)
-
-    def _start_reactor(self, stop_after_crawl=True):
+    def start(self, stop_after_crawl=True):
         if stop_after_crawl:
             d = defer.DeferredList(self.crawl_deferreds)
             if d.called: