diff --git a/pkg/dart2native/lib/generate.dart b/pkg/dart2native/lib/generate.dart
index 0ef3f4b4844..c0f01fdaeae 100644
--- a/pkg/dart2native/lib/generate.dart
+++ b/pkg/dart2native/lib/generate.dart
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ final String executableSuffix = Platform.isWindows ? '.exe' : '';
 final String dartaotruntime =
     path.join(binDir.path, 'dartaotruntime$executableSuffix');
 final String genKernel =
-    path.join(binDir.path, 'snapshots', 'gen_kernel_aot.dart.snapshot');
+    path.join(binDir.path, 'snapshots', 'gen_kernel.dart.snapshot');
 final String genSnapshot =
     path.join(binDir.path, 'utils', 'gen_snapshot$executableSuffix');
 final String productPlatformDill = path.join(
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ Future<void> generateNative({
 
     final String kernelFile = path.join(tempDir.path, 'kernel.dill');
     final kernelResult = await generateAotKernel(
-      dartaotruntime,
+      Platform.executable,
       genKernel,
       productPlatformDill,
       sourcePath,
diff --git a/sdk/BUILD.gn b/sdk/BUILD.gn
index be769fd7c01..ca36cf5a8bf 100644
--- a/sdk/BUILD.gn
+++ b/sdk/BUILD.gn
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ declare_args() {
 # ........dds.dart.snapshot
 # ........frontend_server_aot.dart.snapshot (AOT snapshot, if not on ia32)
 # ........frontend_server.dart.snapshot
-# ........gen_kernel_aot.dart.snapshot (if not on ia32)
+# ........gen_kernel.dart.snapshot (if not on ia32)
 # ........kernel-service.dart.snapshot
 # ........kernel_worker.dart.snapshot
 # ......resources/
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ copy("copy_vm_platform_strong_product") {
 copy("copy_gen_kernel_snapshot") {
   visibility = [ ":group_dart2native" ]
   deps = [ "../utils/gen_kernel" ]
-  sources = [ "$root_gen_dir/gen_kernel_aot.dart.snapshot" ]
+  sources = [ "$root_gen_dir/gen_kernel.dart.snapshot" ]
   outputs =
       [ "$root_out_dir/$dart_sdk_output/bin/snapshots/{{source_file_part}}" ]
 }
diff --git a/utils/aot_snapshot.gni b/utils/aot_snapshot.gni
index 09580ca8e26..731fe4c2ac8 100644
--- a/utils/aot_snapshot.gni
+++ b/utils/aot_snapshot.gni
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 # BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
 import("../build/dart/dart_action.gni")
-import("../runtime/runtime_args.gni")
 import("../sdk_args.gni")
 
 _dart_root = get_path_info("..", "abspath")
diff --git a/utils/gen_kernel/BUILD.gn b/utils/gen_kernel/BUILD.gn
index 6867fe2baad..04bbf71a790 100644
--- a/utils/gen_kernel/BUILD.gn
+++ b/utils/gen_kernel/BUILD.gn
@@ -39,18 +39,21 @@ prebuilt_dart_action("bootstrap_gen_kernel") {
   args = []
 }
 
-import("../aot_snapshot.gni")
+import("../application_snapshot.gni")
 
-aot_snapshot("gen_kernel") {
+application_snapshot("gen_kernel") {
   main_dart = "../../pkg/vm/bin/gen_kernel.dart"
   deps = [ "../../runtime/vm:vm_platform" ]
-  output = "$root_gen_dir/gen_kernel_aot.dart.snapshot"
 
-  # dartaotruntime has dart_product_config applied to it,
-  # so it is built in # product mode in both release and
-  # product builds, and is only built in debug mode in debug
-  # builds. The following line ensures that the dartaotruntime
-  # and gen_kernel_aot snapshot in an SDK build are
-  # always compatible with each other.
-  force_product_mode = !dart_debug
+  # NOTE: The output filename must be kept in sync with the output of the
+  # vm_platform rule.
+  vm_platform_out =
+      get_label_info("../../runtime/vm:vm_platform", "root_out_dir")
+  vm_platform = "$vm_platform_out/vm_platform_strong.dill"
+  training_args = [
+    "--platform",
+    rebase_path(vm_platform, root_build_dir),
+    rebase_path("../../pkg/vm/bin/gen_kernel.dart", root_build_dir),
+    "-o -",
+  ]
 }