diff --git a/sdk/BUILD.gn b/sdk/BUILD.gn
index 0c772b50662..bb47df50410 100644
--- a/sdk/BUILD.gn
+++ b/sdk/BUILD.gn
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 import("//mojo/public/dart/rules.gni")
 
-dart_pkg("sdk") {
+dart_pkg("sky") {
   sources = [
     "CHANGELOG.md",
     "bin/init.dart",
@@ -144,3 +144,36 @@ dart_pkg("sdk") {
 
   sdk_ext_directory = "$root_gen_dir/sky/bindings"
 }
+
+action("material_design_icons") {
+  input_dir = "lib/assets/material-design-icons"
+  output_dir = "$root_gen_dir/dart-pkg/sky/lib/assets"
+  stamp = "$target_gen_dir/material_design_icons_linked"
+
+  sources = [
+    "lib/assets/material-design-icons.sha1",
+  ]
+  outputs = [
+    stamp,
+  ]
+
+  script = "//build/symlink.py"
+  args = [
+    "--force",
+    rebase_path(input_dir, output_dir),
+    rebase_path(output_dir, root_build_dir),
+    "--touch",
+    rebase_path(stamp, root_build_dir),
+  ]
+
+  deps = [
+    ":sky",
+  ]
+}
+
+group("sdk") {
+  deps = [
+    ":sky",
+    ":material_design_icons",
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/sdk/lib/download_material_design_icons b/sdk/lib/download_material_design_icons
index 6087c48fb89..aad130216dd 100755
--- a/sdk/lib/download_material_design_icons
+++ b/sdk/lib/download_material_design_icons
@@ -5,25 +5,34 @@
 
 import os
 import subprocess
+import sys
 import urllib2
 
-sky_lib_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-assets_dir = os.path.join(sky_lib_dir, 'assets')
-sha1_path = os.path.join(assets_dir, 'material-design-icons.sha1')
+def main():
+    sky_lib_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+    assets_dir = os.path.join(sky_lib_dir, 'assets')
 
-with open(sha1_path, 'r') as f:
-    sha1 = f.read()
+    if (os.path.isdir(os.path.join(assets_dir, 'material-design-icons'))):
+        return
 
-tgz_path = os.path.join(assets_dir, 'material-design-icons.tgz')
-url = 'https://storage.googleapis.com/mojo/material-design-icons/%s' % sha1
-response = urllib2.urlopen(url)
+    sha1_path = os.path.join(assets_dir, 'material-design-icons.sha1')
 
-with open(tgz_path, 'wb') as f:
-    f.write(response.read())
+    with open(sha1_path, 'r') as f:
+        sha1 = f.read()
 
-output_path = os.path.join(assets_dir, tgz_path)
-subprocess.call([
-    'tar', '-xzf', output_path, '-C', assets_dir
-])
+    tgz_path = os.path.join(assets_dir, 'material-design-icons.tgz')
+    url = 'https://storage.googleapis.com/mojo/material-design-icons/%s' % sha1
+    response = urllib2.urlopen(url)
 
-os.unlink(tgz_path)
+    with open(tgz_path, 'wb') as f:
+        f.write(response.read())
+
+    output_path = os.path.join(assets_dir, tgz_path)
+    subprocess.call([
+        'tar', '-xzf', output_path, '-C', assets_dir
+    ])
+
+    os.unlink(tgz_path)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/tools/shelldb b/tools/shelldb
index 138eb39bd25..0eb49187a79 100755
--- a/tools/shelldb
+++ b/tools/shelldb
@@ -126,18 +126,6 @@ def dev_packages_root(build_dir):
     return os.path.join(build_dir, 'gen', 'dart-pkg', 'packages')
 
 
-def ensure_assets_are_downloaded(build_dir):
-    sky_pkg_dir = os.path.join(build_dir, 'gen', 'dart-pkg', 'sky')
-    sky_pkg_lib_dir = os.path.join(sky_pkg_dir, 'lib')
-    sky_icons_dir = \
-        os.path.join(sky_pkg_lib_dir, 'assets', 'material-design-icons')
-    if not os.path.isdir(sky_icons_dir):
-        logging.info('NOTE: sky/assets/material-design-icons missing, '
-                     'Running `download_material_design_icons` for you.')
-        subprocess.check_call(
-            [os.path.join(sky_pkg_lib_dir, 'download_material_design_icons')])
-
-
 class SetBuildDir(object):
     def add_subparser(self, subparsers):
         start_parser = subparsers.add_parser('set_build_dir',
@@ -198,8 +186,6 @@ class StartSky(object):
             print "'%s' does not exist?" % apk_path
             return 2
 
-        ensure_assets_are_downloaded(args.build_dir)
-
         packages_root = dev_packages_root(args.build_dir)
         sky_server = self._sky_server_for_args(args, packages_root)
         pids['sky_server_pid'] = sky_server.start()