diff --git a/tornado/web.py b/tornado/web.py
index a0f6382b..d1a26f57 100644
--- a/tornado/web.py
+++ b/tornado/web.py
@@ -588,7 +588,7 @@ class RequestHandler(object):
             _=self.locale.translate,
             static_url=self.static_url,
             xsrf_form_html=self.xsrf_form_html,
-            reverse_url=self.application.reverse_url
+            reverse_url=self.reverse_url
         )
         args.update(self.ui)
         args.update(kwargs)