diff --git a/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc-main.coffee b/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc-main.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8021544479d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc-main.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{EventEmitter} = require 'events'
+
+module.exports = new EventEmitter
diff --git a/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc.coffee b/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc.coffee
index 71cf1d17e491..f116b9a874a5 100644
--- a/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc.coffee
+++ b/atom/browser/api/lib/ipc.coffee
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
-EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter
+deprecate = require 'deprecate'
 
-module.exports = new EventEmitter
+# This module is deprecated, we mirror everything from ipcRenderer.
+deprecate.warn 'ipc module', 'ipcMain module'
+
+module.exports = require 'ipc-main'
diff --git a/filenames.gypi b/filenames.gypi
index 93cb4f3e07aa..4dc709c5ec57 100644
--- a/filenames.gypi
+++ b/filenames.gypi
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
       'atom/browser/api/lib/dialog.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/global-shortcut.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/ipc.coffee',
+      'atom/browser/api/lib/ipc-main.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/menu.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/menu-item.coffee',
       'atom/browser/api/lib/navigation-controller.coffee',