diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index b66789fa0b..c28c8799ec 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -315,6 +315,7 @@ MODULES =					\
   guix/scripts/import/stackage.scm		\
   guix/scripts/import/texlive.scm  		\
   guix/scripts/environment.scm			\
+  guix/scripts/shell.scm			\
   guix/scripts/publish.scm			\
   guix/scripts/edit.scm				\
   guix/scripts/size.scm				\
@@ -550,6 +551,7 @@ SH_TESTS =					\
   tests/guix-authenticate.sh			\
   tests/guix-environment.sh			\
   tests/guix-environment-container.sh		\
+  tests/guix-shell.sh				\
   tests/guix-graph.sh				\
   tests/guix-describe.sh			\
   tests/guix-repl.sh     			\
diff --git a/guix/scripts/environment.scm b/guix/scripts/environment.scm
index 54f48a7482..77956fc018 100644
--- a/guix/scripts/environment.scm
+++ b/guix/scripts/environment.scm
@@ -50,7 +50,11 @@
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-37)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-98)
   #:export (assert-container-features
-            guix-environment))
+            guix-environment
+            guix-environment*
+            show-environment-options-help
+            (%options . %environment-options)
+            (%default-options . %environment-default-options)))
 
 (define %default-shell
   (or (getenv "SHELL") "/bin/sh"))
@@ -66,23 +70,16 @@ do not augment existing environment variables with additional search paths."
                (newline)))
             (profile-search-paths profile manifest)))
 
-(define (show-help)
-  (display (G_ "Usage: guix environment [OPTION]... PACKAGE... [-- COMMAND...]
-Build an environment that includes the dependencies of PACKAGE and execute
-COMMAND or an interactive shell in that environment.\n"))
+(define (show-environment-options-help)
+  "Print help about options shared between 'guix environment' and 'guix
+shell'."
   (display (G_ "
   -e, --expression=EXPR  create environment for the package that EXPR
                          evaluates to"))
   (display (G_ "
-  -l, --load=FILE        create environment for the package that the code within
-                         FILE evaluates to"))
-  (display (G_ "
   -m, --manifest=FILE    create environment with the manifest from FILE"))
   (display (G_ "
   -p, --profile=PATH     create environment from profile at PATH"))
-  (display (G_ "
-      --ad-hoc           include all specified packages in the environment instead
-                         of only their inputs"))
   (display (G_ "
       --pure             unset existing environment variables"))
   (display (G_ "
@@ -118,7 +115,24 @@ COMMAND or an interactive shell in that environment.\n"))
   (display (G_ "
   -v, --verbosity=LEVEL  use the given verbosity LEVEL"))
   (display (G_ "
-      --bootstrap        use bootstrap binaries to build the environment"))
+      --bootstrap        use bootstrap binaries to build the environment")))
+
+(define (show-help)
+  (display (G_ "Usage: guix environment [OPTION]... PACKAGE... [-- COMMAND...]
+Build an environment that includes the dependencies of PACKAGE and execute
+COMMAND or an interactive shell in that environment.\n"))
+  (warning (G_ "This command is deprecated in favor of 'guix shell'.\n"))
+  (newline)
+
+  ;; These two options are left out in 'guix shell'.
+  (display (G_ "
+  -l, --load=FILE        create environment for the package that the code within
+                         FILE evaluates to"))
+  (display (G_ "
+      --ad-hoc           include all specified packages in the environment instead
+                         of only their inputs"))
+
+  (show-environment-options-help)
   (newline)
   (show-build-options-help)
   (newline)
@@ -649,11 +663,15 @@ message if any test fails."
 
 (define-command (guix-environment . args)
   (category development)
-  (synopsis "spawn one-off software environments")
+  (synopsis "spawn one-off software environments (deprecated)")
 
+  (guix-environment* (parse-args args)))
+
+(define (guix-environment* opts)
+  "Run the 'guix environment' command on OPTS, an alist resulting for
+command-line option processing with 'parse-command-line'."
   (with-error-handling
-    (let* ((opts       (parse-args args))
-           (pure?      (assoc-ref opts 'pure))
+    (let* ((pure?      (assoc-ref opts 'pure))
            (container? (assoc-ref opts 'container?))
            (link-prof? (assoc-ref opts 'link-profile?))
            (network?   (assoc-ref opts 'network?))
@@ -724,8 +742,8 @@ message if any test fails."
                                      (prof-drv   (manifest->derivation
                                                   manifest system bootstrap?))
                                      (profile -> (if profile
-                                                   (readlink* profile)
-                                                   (derivation->output-path prof-drv)))
+                                                     (readlink* profile)
+                                                     (derivation->output-path prof-drv)))
                                      (gc-root -> (assoc-ref opts 'gc-root)))
 
                   ;; First build the inputs.  This is necessary even for
diff --git a/guix/scripts/shell.scm b/guix/scripts/shell.scm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a4b7a5092
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guix/scripts/shell.scm
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
+;;; Copyright © 2021 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
+;;;
+;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
+;;;
+;;; GNU Guix is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+;;; under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+;;; the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at
+;;; your option) any later version.
+;;;
+;;; GNU Guix is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+;;; WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+;;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+;;; GNU General Public License for more details.
+;;;
+;;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+;;; along with GNU Guix.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+(define-module (guix scripts shell)
+  #:use-module (guix ui)
+  #:use-module (guix scripts environment)
+  #:autoload   (guix scripts build) (show-build-options-help)
+  #:autoload   (guix transformations) (show-transformation-options-help)
+  #:use-module (guix scripts)
+  #:use-module (srfi srfi-1)
+  #:use-module (srfi srfi-26)
+  #:use-module (srfi srfi-37)
+  #:use-module (srfi srfi-71)
+  #:use-module (ice-9 match)
+  #:export (guix-shell))
+
+(define (show-help)
+  (display (G_ "Usage: guix shell [OPTION] PACKAGES... [-- COMMAND...]
+Build an environment that includes PACKAGES and execute COMMAND or an
+interactive shell in that environment.\n"))
+  (newline)
+
+  ;; These two options differ from 'guix environment'.
+  (display (G_ "
+  -D, --development      include the development inputs of the next package"))
+  (display (G_ "
+  -f, --install-from-file=FILE
+                         install the package that the code within FILE
+                         evaluates to"))
+
+  (show-environment-options-help)
+  (newline)
+  (show-build-options-help)
+  (newline)
+  (show-transformation-options-help)
+  (newline)
+  (display (G_ "
+  -h, --help             display this help and exit"))
+  (display (G_ "
+  -V, --version          display version information and exit"))
+  (newline)
+  (show-bug-report-information))
+
+(define (tag-package-arg opts arg)
+  "Return a two-element list with the form (TAG ARG) that tags ARG with either
+'ad-hoc' in OPTS has the 'ad-hoc?' key set to #t, or 'inputs' otherwise."
+  (if (assoc-ref opts 'ad-hoc?)
+      `(ad-hoc-package ,arg)
+      `(package ,arg)))
+
+(define (ensure-ad-hoc alist)
+  (if (assq-ref alist 'ad-hoc?)
+      alist
+      `((ad-hoc? . #t) ,@alist)))
+
+(define (wrapped-option opt)
+  "Wrap OPT, a SRFI-37 option, such that its processor always adds the
+'ad-hoc?' flag to the resulting alist."
+  (option (option-names opt)
+          (option-required-arg? opt)
+          (option-optional-arg? opt)
+          (compose ensure-ad-hoc (option-processor opt))))
+
+(define %options
+  ;; Specification of the command-line options.
+  (let ((to-remove '("ad-hoc" "inherit" "load" "help" "version")))
+    (append
+        (list (option '(#\h "help") #f #f
+                      (lambda args
+                        (show-help)
+                        (exit 0)))
+              (option '(#\V "version") #f #f
+                      (lambda args
+                        (show-version-and-exit "guix shell")))
+
+              (option '(#\D "development") #f #f
+                      (lambda (opt name arg result)
+                        ;; Temporarily remove the 'ad-hoc?' flag from result.
+                        ;; The next option will put it back thanks to
+                        ;; 'wrapped-option'.
+                        (alist-delete 'ad-hoc? result)))
+
+              ;; For consistency with 'guix package', support '-f' rather than
+              ;; '-l' like 'guix environment' does.
+              (option '(#\f "install-from-file") #t #f
+                      (lambda (opt name arg result)
+                        (alist-cons 'load (tag-package-arg result arg)
+                                    result))))
+        (filter-map (lambda (opt)
+                      (and (not (any (lambda (name)
+                                       (member name to-remove))
+                                     (option-names opt)))
+                           (wrapped-option opt)))
+                    %environment-options))))
+
+(define %default-options
+  `((ad-hoc? . #t)                                ;always true
+    ,@%environment-default-options))
+
+(define (parse-args args)
+  "Parse the list of command line arguments ARGS."
+  (define (handle-argument arg result)
+    (alist-cons 'package (tag-package-arg result arg)
+                (ensure-ad-hoc result)))
+
+  ;; The '--' token is used to separate the command to run from the rest of
+  ;; the operands.
+  (let ((args command (break (cut string=? "--" <>) args)))
+    (let ((opts (parse-command-line args %options (list %default-options)
+                                    #:argument-handler handle-argument)))
+      (match command
+        (() opts)
+        (("--") opts)
+        (("--" command ...) (alist-cons 'exec command opts))))))
+
+
+(define-command (guix-shell . args)
+  (category development)
+  (synopsis "spawn one-off software environments")
+
+  (guix-environment* (parse-args args)))
diff --git a/po/guix/POTFILES.in b/po/guix/POTFILES.in
index f5b76bf582..f8abeb2d38 100644
--- a/po/guix/POTFILES.in
+++ b/po/guix/POTFILES.in
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ guix/derivations.scm
 guix/scripts/archive.scm
 guix/scripts/build.scm
 guix/scripts/environment.scm
+guix/scripts/shell.scm
 guix/scripts/time-machine.scm
 guix/scripts/import/cpan.scm
 guix/scripts/import/crate.scm
diff --git a/tests/guix-shell.sh b/tests/guix-shell.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f08637f7ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/guix-shell.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
+# Copyright © 2021 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
+#
+# This file is part of GNU Guix.
+#
+# GNU Guix is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+# under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at
+# your option) any later version.
+#
+# GNU Guix is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with GNU Guix.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+#
+# Test the 'guix shell' alias.
+#
+
+guix shell --version
+
+tmpdir="t-guix-shell-$$"
+trap 'rm -r "$tmpdir"' EXIT
+mkdir "$tmpdir"
+
+guix shell --bootstrap --pure guile-bootstrap -- guile --version
+
+# '--ad-hoc' is a thing of the past.
+! guix shell --ad-hoc guile-bootstrap
+
+if guile -c '(getaddrinfo "www.gnu.org" "80" AI_NUMERICSERV)' 2> /dev/null
+then
+    # Compute the build environment for the initial GNU Make.
+    guix shell --bootstrap --no-substitutes --search-paths --pure \
+         -D -e '(@ (guix tests) gnu-make-for-tests)' > "$tmpdir/a"
+
+    # Make sure bootstrap binaries are in the profile.
+    profile=`grep "^export PATH" "$tmpdir/a" | sed -r 's|^.*="(.*)/bin"|\1|'`
+
+    # Make sure the bootstrap binaries are all listed where they belong.
+    grep -E "^export PATH=\"$profile/bin\""         "$tmpdir/a"
+    grep -E "^export CPATH=\"$profile/include\""    "$tmpdir/a"
+    grep -E "^export LIBRARY_PATH=\"$profile/lib\"" "$tmpdir/a"
+    for dep in bootstrap-binaries-0 gcc-bootstrap-0 glibc-bootstrap-0
+    do
+	guix gc --references "$profile" | grep "$dep"
+    done
+
+    # 'make-boot0' itself must not be listed.
+    ! guix gc --references "$profile" | grep make-boot0
+fi
