diff --git a/packages/core/src/core_private_export.ts b/packages/core/src/core_private_export.ts
index 5b35140710..24cddeb5e6 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/core_private_export.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/core_private_export.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export {APP_ROOT as ɵAPP_ROOT} from './di/scope';
 export {ivyEnabled as ɵivyEnabled} from './ivy_switch';
 export {ComponentFactory as ɵComponentFactory} from './linker/component_factory';
 export {CodegenComponentFactoryResolver as ɵCodegenComponentFactoryResolver} from './linker/component_factory_resolver';
+export {resolveComponentResources as ɵresolveComponentResources} from './metadata/resource_loading';
 export {ReflectionCapabilities as ɵReflectionCapabilities} from './reflection/reflection_capabilities';
 export {GetterFn as ɵGetterFn, MethodFn as ɵMethodFn, SetterFn as ɵSetterFn} from './reflection/types';
 export {DirectRenderer as ɵDirectRenderer, RenderDebugInfo as ɵRenderDebugInfo} from './render/api';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/ivy_switch_on.ts b/packages/core/src/ivy_switch_on.ts
index 7b2d79214a..8d29031c72 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/ivy_switch_on.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/ivy_switch_on.ts
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-import {compileComponentDecorator, compileDirective} from './render3/jit/directive';
+import {compileComponent, compileDirective} from './render3/jit/directive';
 import {compileInjectable} from './render3/jit/injectable';
 import {compileNgModule} from './render3/jit/module';
 
 export const ivyEnabled = true;
-export const R3_COMPILE_COMPONENT = compileComponentDecorator;
+export const R3_COMPILE_COMPONENT = compileComponent;
 export const R3_COMPILE_DIRECTIVE = compileDirective;
 export const R3_COMPILE_INJECTABLE = compileInjectable;
 export const R3_COMPILE_NGMODULE = compileNgModule;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/metadata/resource_loading.ts b/packages/core/src/metadata/resource_loading.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1870d997c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/metadata/resource_loading.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+import {Component} from './directives';
+
+
+/**
+ * Used to resolve resource URLs on `@Component` when used with JIT compilation.
+ *
+ * Example:
+ * ```
+ * @Component({
+ *   selector: 'my-comp',
+ *   templateUrl: 'my-comp.html', // This requires asynchronous resolution
+ * })
+ * class MyComponnent{
+ * }
+ *
+ * // Calling `renderComponent` will fail because `MyComponent`'s `@Compenent.templateUrl`
+ * // needs to be resolved because `renderComponent` is synchronous process.
+ * // renderComponent(MyComponent);
+ *
+ * // Calling `resolveComponentResources` will resolve `@Compenent.templateUrl` into
+ * // `@Compenent.template`, which would allow `renderComponent` to proceed in synchronous manner.
+ * // Use browser's `fetch` function as the default resource resolution strategy.
+ * resolveComponentResources(fetch).then(() => {
+ *   // After resolution all URLs have been converted into strings.
+ *   renderComponent(MyComponent);
+ * });
+ *
+ * ```
+ *
+ * NOTE: In AOT the resolution happens during compilation, and so there should be no need
+ * to call this method outside JIT mode.
+ *
+ * @param resourceResolver a function which is responsible to returning a `Promise` of the resolved
+ * URL. Browser's `fetch` method is a good default implementation.
+ */
+export function resolveComponentResources(
+    resourceResolver: (url: string) => (Promise<string|{text(): Promise<string>}>)): Promise<null> {
+  // Store all promises which are fetching the resources.
+  const urlFetches: Promise<string>[] = [];
+
+  // Cache so that we don't fetch the same resource more than once.
+  const urlMap = new Map<string, Promise<string>>();
+  function cachedResourceResolve(url: string): Promise<string> {
+    let promise = urlMap.get(url);
+    if (!promise) {
+      const resp = resourceResolver(url);
+      urlMap.set(url, promise = resp.then(unwrapResponse));
+      urlFetches.push(promise);
+    }
+    return promise;
+  }
+
+  componentResourceResolutionQueue.forEach((component: Component) => {
+    if (component.templateUrl) {
+      cachedResourceResolve(component.templateUrl).then((template) => {
+        component.template = template;
+        component.templateUrl = undefined;
+      });
+    }
+    const styleUrls = component.styleUrls;
+    const styles = component.styles || (component.styles = []);
+    const styleOffset = component.styles.length;
+    styleUrls && styleUrls.forEach((styleUrl, index) => {
+      styles.push('');  // pre-allocate array.
+      cachedResourceResolve(styleUrl).then((style) => {
+        styles[styleOffset + index] = style;
+        styleUrls.splice(styleUrls.indexOf(styleUrl), 1);
+        if (styleUrls.length == 0) {
+          component.styleUrls = undefined;
+        }
+      });
+    });
+  });
+  componentResourceResolutionQueue.clear();
+  return Promise.all(urlFetches).then(() => null);
+}
+
+const componentResourceResolutionQueue: Set<Component> = new Set();
+
+export function maybeQueueResolutionOfComponentResources(metadata: Component) {
+  if (componentNeedsResolution(metadata)) {
+    componentResourceResolutionQueue.add(metadata);
+  }
+}
+
+export function componentNeedsResolution(component: Component) {
+  return component.templateUrl || component.styleUrls && component.styleUrls.length;
+}
+export function clearResolutionOfComponentResourcesQueue() {
+  componentResourceResolutionQueue.clear();
+}
+
+function unwrapResponse(response: string | {text(): Promise<string>}): string|Promise<string> {
+  return typeof response == 'string' ? response : response.text();
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/jit/directive.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/jit/directive.ts
index b545f72306..e982be0a1c 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/jit/directive.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/jit/directive.ts
@@ -9,16 +9,16 @@
 import {ConstantPool, R3DirectiveMetadata, WrappedNodeExpr, compileComponentFromMetadata as compileR3Component, compileDirectiveFromMetadata as compileR3Directive, jitExpression, makeBindingParser, parseHostBindings, parseTemplate} from '@angular/compiler';
 
 import {Component, Directive, HostBinding, HostListener, Input, Output} from '../../metadata/directives';
+import {componentNeedsResolution, maybeQueueResolutionOfComponentResources} from '../../metadata/resource_loading';
 import {ReflectionCapabilities} from '../../reflection/reflection_capabilities';
 import {Type} from '../../type';
+import {stringify} from '../../util';
 
 import {angularCoreEnv} from './environment';
 import {NG_COMPONENT_DEF, NG_DIRECTIVE_DEF} from './fields';
 import {patchComponentDefWithScope} from './module';
 import {getReflect, reflectDependencies} from './util';
 
-let _pendingPromises: Promise<void>[] = [];
-
 type StringMap = {
   [key: string]: string
 };
@@ -29,30 +29,39 @@ type StringMap = {
  *
  * Compilation may be asynchronous (due to the need to resolve URLs for the component template or
  * other resources, for example). In the event that compilation is not immediate, `compileComponent`
- * will return a `Promise` which will resolve when compilation completes and the component becomes
- * usable.
+ * will enqueue resource resolution into a global queue and will fail to return the `ngComponentDef`
+ * until the global queue has been resolved with a call to `resolveComponentResources`.
  */
-export function compileComponent(type: Type<any>, metadata: Component): Promise<void>|null {
-  // TODO(alxhub): implement ResourceLoader support for template compilation.
-  if (!metadata.template) {
-    throw new Error('templateUrl not yet supported');
-  }
-  const templateStr = metadata.template;
-
+export function compileComponent(type: Type<any>, metadata: Component): void {
   let def: any = null;
+  // Metadata may have resources which need to be resolved.
+  maybeQueueResolutionOfComponentResources(metadata);
   Object.defineProperty(type, NG_COMPONENT_DEF, {
     get: () => {
       if (def === null) {
+        if (componentNeedsResolution(metadata)) {
+          const error = [`Component '${stringify(type)}' is not resolved:`];
+          if (metadata.templateUrl) {
+            error.push(` - templateUrl: ${stringify(metadata.templateUrl)}`);
+          }
+          if (metadata.styleUrls && metadata.styleUrls.length) {
+            error.push(` - styleUrls: ${JSON.stringify(metadata.styleUrls)}`);
+          }
+          error.push(`Did you run and wait for 'resolveComponentResources()'?`);
+          throw new Error(error.join('\n'));
+        }
         // The ConstantPool is a requirement of the JIT'er.
         const constantPool = new ConstantPool();
 
         // Parse the template and check for errors.
-        const template = parseTemplate(templateStr, `ng://${type.name}/template.html`, {
-          preserveWhitespaces: metadata.preserveWhitespaces || false,
-        });
+        const template =
+            parseTemplate(metadata.template !, `ng://${stringify(type)}/template.html`, {
+              preserveWhitespaces: metadata.preserveWhitespaces || false,
+            });
         if (template.errors !== undefined) {
           const errors = template.errors.map(err => err.toString()).join(', ');
-          throw new Error(`Errors during JIT compilation of template for ${type.name}: ${errors}`);
+          throw new Error(
+              `Errors during JIT compilation of template for ${stringify(type)}: ${errors}`);
         }
 
         // Compile the component metadata, including template, into an expression.
@@ -81,8 +90,6 @@ export function compileComponent(type: Type<any>, metadata: Component): Promise<
       return def;
     },
   });
-
-  return null;
 }
 
 function hasSelectorScope<T>(component: Type<T>): component is Type<T>&
@@ -97,7 +104,7 @@ function hasSelectorScope<T>(component: Type<T>): component is Type<T>&
  * In the event that compilation is not immediate, `compileDirective` will return a `Promise` which
  * will resolve when compilation completes and the directive becomes usable.
  */
-export function compileDirective(type: Type<any>, directive: Directive): Promise<void>|null {
+export function compileDirective(type: Type<any>, directive: Directive): void {
   let def: any = null;
   Object.defineProperty(type, NG_DIRECTIVE_DEF, {
     get: () => {
@@ -111,31 +118,8 @@ export function compileDirective(type: Type<any>, directive: Directive): Promise
       return def;
     },
   });
-  return null;
 }
 
-/**
- * A wrapper around `compileComponent` which is intended to be used for the `@Component` decorator.
- *
- * This wrapper keeps track of the `Promise` returned by `compileComponent` and will cause
- * `awaitCurrentlyCompilingComponents` to wait on the compilation to be finished.
- */
-export function compileComponentDecorator(type: Type<any>, metadata: Component): void {
-  const res = compileComponent(type, metadata);
-  if (res !== null) {
-    _pendingPromises.push(res);
-  }
-}
-
-/**
- * Returns a promise which will await the compilation of any `@Component`s which have been defined
- * since the last time `awaitCurrentlyCompilingComponents` was called.
- */
-export function awaitCurrentlyCompilingComponents(): Promise<void> {
-  const res = Promise.all(_pendingPromises).then(() => undefined);
-  _pendingPromises = [];
-  return res;
-}
 
 /**
  * Extract the `R3DirectiveMetadata` for a particular directive (either a `Directive` or a
diff --git a/packages/core/test/metadata/resource_loading_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/metadata/resource_loading_spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5ee74007ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/metadata/resource_loading_spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+import {jasmineAwait} from '@angular/core/testing';
+
+import {Component} from '../../src/core';
+import {clearResolutionOfComponentResourcesQueue, resolveComponentResources} from '../../src/metadata/resource_loading';
+import {ComponentType} from '../../src/render3/interfaces/definition';
+import {compileComponent} from '../../src/render3/jit/directive';
+
+describe('resource_loading', () => {
+  describe('error handling', () => {
+    afterEach(clearResolutionOfComponentResourcesQueue);
+    it('should throw an error when compiling component that has unresolved templateUrl', () => {
+      const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+      compileComponent(MyComponent, {templateUrl: 'someUrl'});
+      expect(() => MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toThrowError(`
+Component 'MyComponent' is not resolved:
+ - templateUrl: someUrl
+Did you run and wait for 'resolveComponentResources()'?`.trim());
+    });
+
+    it('should throw an error when compiling component that has unresolved styleUrls', () => {
+      const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+      compileComponent(MyComponent, {styleUrls: ['someUrl1', 'someUrl2']});
+      expect(() => MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toThrowError(`
+Component 'MyComponent' is not resolved:
+ - styleUrls: ["someUrl1","someUrl2"]
+Did you run and wait for 'resolveComponentResources()'?`.trim());
+    });
+
+    it('should throw an error when compiling component that has unresolved templateUrl and styleUrls',
+       () => {
+         const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+         compileComponent(
+             MyComponent, {templateUrl: 'someUrl', styleUrls: ['someUrl1', 'someUrl2']});
+         expect(() => MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toThrowError(`
+Component 'MyComponent' is not resolved:
+ - templateUrl: someUrl
+ - styleUrls: ["someUrl1","someUrl2"]
+Did you run and wait for 'resolveComponentResources()'?`.trim());
+       });
+  });
+
+  describe('resolution', () => {
+    const URLS: {[url: string]: Promise<string>} = {
+      'test://content': Promise.resolve('content'),
+      'test://style1': Promise.resolve('style1'),
+      'test://style2': Promise.resolve('style2'),
+    };
+    let resourceFetchCount: number;
+    function testResolver(url: string): Promise<string> {
+      resourceFetchCount++;
+      return URLS[url] || Promise.reject('NOT_FOUND: ' + url);
+    }
+    beforeEach(() => resourceFetchCount = 0);
+
+    it('should resolve template', jasmineAwait(async() => {
+         const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+         const metadata: Component = {templateUrl: 'test://content'};
+         compileComponent(MyComponent, metadata);
+         await resolveComponentResources(testResolver);
+         expect(MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toBeDefined();
+         expect(metadata.templateUrl).toBe(undefined);
+         expect(metadata.template).toBe('content');
+         expect(resourceFetchCount).toBe(1);
+       }));
+
+    it('should resolve styleUrls', jasmineAwait(async() => {
+         const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+         const metadata: Component = {template: '', styleUrls: ['test://style1', 'test://style2']};
+         compileComponent(MyComponent, metadata);
+         await resolveComponentResources(testResolver);
+         expect(MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toBeDefined();
+         expect(metadata.styleUrls).toBe(undefined);
+         expect(metadata.styles).toEqual(['style1', 'style2']);
+         expect(resourceFetchCount).toBe(2);
+       }));
+
+    it('should cache multiple resolution to same URL', jasmineAwait(async() => {
+         const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+         const metadata: Component = {template: '', styleUrls: ['test://style1', 'test://style1']};
+         compileComponent(MyComponent, metadata);
+         await resolveComponentResources(testResolver);
+         expect(MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toBeDefined();
+         expect(metadata.styleUrls).toBe(undefined);
+         expect(metadata.styles).toEqual(['style1', 'style1']);
+         expect(resourceFetchCount).toBe(1);
+       }));
+
+    it('should keep order even if the resolution is out of order', jasmineAwait(async() => {
+         const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+         const metadata: Component = {
+           template: '',
+           styles: ['existing'],
+           styleUrls: ['test://style1', 'test://style2']
+         };
+         compileComponent(MyComponent, metadata);
+         const resolvers: any[] = [];
+         const resolved = resolveComponentResources(
+             (url) => new Promise((resolve, response) => resolvers.push(url, resolve)));
+         // Out of order resolution
+         expect(resolvers[0]).toEqual('test://style1');
+         expect(resolvers[2]).toEqual('test://style2');
+         resolvers[3]('second');
+         resolvers[1]('first');
+         await resolved;
+         expect(metadata.styleUrls).toBe(undefined);
+         expect(metadata.styles).toEqual(['existing', 'first', 'second']);
+       }));
+
+  });
+
+  describe('fetch', () => {
+    function fetch(url: string): Promise<Response> {
+      return Promise.resolve({
+        text() { return 'response for ' + url; }
+      } as any as Response);
+    }
+
+    it('should work with fetch', jasmineAwait(async() => {
+         const MyComponent: ComponentType<any> = (class MyComponent{}) as any;
+         const metadata: Component = {templateUrl: 'test://content'};
+         compileComponent(MyComponent, metadata);
+         await resolveComponentResources(fetch);
+         expect(MyComponent.ngComponentDef).toBeDefined();
+         expect(metadata.templateUrl).toBe(undefined);
+         expect(metadata.template).toBe('response for test://content');
+       }));
+  });
+});