diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/ApplicationDiscriminator.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/ApplicationDiscriminator.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c269f7d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/ApplicationDiscriminator.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+
+using System;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Infrastructure;
+
+namespace Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal
+{
+    public class ApplicationDiscriminator : IApplicationDiscriminator
+    {
+        private readonly IHostingEnvironment _hostingEnvironment;
+
+        public ApplicationDiscriminator(IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment)
+        {
+            if (hostingEnvironment == null)
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(hostingEnvironment));
+            }
+
+            _hostingEnvironment = hostingEnvironment;
+        }
+
+        public string Discriminator => _hostingEnvironment.ContentRootPath;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.csproj b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.csproj
index da224eb1..73800436 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.csproj
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.csproj
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Abstractions" Version="$(AspNetCoreVersion)" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http" Version="$(AspNetCoreVersion)" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Extensions" Version="$(AspNetCoreVersion)" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration" Version="$(AspNetCoreVersion)" />
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs
index fb922a0f..5bd5ba6a 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 using System.IO;
 using System.Reflection;
 using System.Runtime.ExceptionServices;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Infrastructure;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Builder;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
@@ -303,6 +304,7 @@ private IServiceCollection BuildCommonServices(out AggregateException hostingSta
             var services = new ServiceCollection();
             services.AddSingleton(_hostingEnvironment);
             services.AddSingleton(_context);
+            services.AddTransient<IApplicationDiscriminator, ApplicationDiscriminator>();
 
             var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
                 .SetBasePath(_hostingEnvironment.ContentRootPath)
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Tests/WebHostBuilderTests.cs b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Tests/WebHostBuilderTests.cs
index d6554024..0853f750 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Tests/WebHostBuilderTests.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Tests/WebHostBuilderTests.cs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.DataProtection.Infrastructure;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Fakes;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.Internal;
@@ -987,6 +988,19 @@ public void Build_ThrowsIfUnloadableAssemblyNameInHostingStartupAssemblies()
             Assert.IsType<FileNotFoundException>(ex.InnerExceptions[0].InnerException);
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public void Build_SetsAppDescriminatorFromContentRoot()
+        {
+            var builder = CreateWebHostBuilder()
+                .UseContentRoot(Environment.CurrentDirectory)
+                .Configure(app => { })
+                .UseServer(new TestServer());
+
+            var host = builder.Build();
+            var applicationDiscriminator = host.Services.GetRequiredService<IApplicationDiscriminator>();
+            Assert.Equal(Environment.CurrentDirectory, applicationDiscriminator.Discriminator);
+        }
+
         [Fact]
         public async Task Build_DoesNotThrowIfUnloadableAssemblyNameInHostingStartupAssembliesAndCaptureStartupErrorsTrue()
         {