diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/lib/deployment.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/lib/deployment.ts
index c72dba724f878..cf2f159025288 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/lib/deployment.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/lib/deployment.ts
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ interface LatestDeploymentResourceProps {
 
 class LatestDeploymentResource extends CfnDeployment {
   private hashComponents = new Array<any>();
-  private originalLogicalId: string;
+
   private api: IRestApi;
 
   constructor(scope: Construct, id: string, props: LatestDeploymentResourceProps) {
@@ -133,7 +133,31 @@ class LatestDeploymentResource extends CfnDeployment {
     });
 
     this.api = props.restApi;
-    this.originalLogicalId = Stack.of(this).getLogicalId(this);
+
+    const originalLogicalId = Stack.of(this).getLogicalId(this);
+
+    this.overrideLogicalId(Lazy.stringValue({ produce: ctx => {
+      const hash = [ ...this.hashComponents ];
+
+      if (this.api instanceof RestApi || this.api instanceof SpecRestApi) { // Ignore IRestApi that are imported
+
+        // Add CfnRestApi to the logical id so a new deployment is triggered when any of its properties change.
+        const cfnRestApiCF = (this.api.node.defaultChild as any)._toCloudFormation();
+        hash.push(ctx.resolve(cfnRestApiCF));
+      }
+
+      let lid = originalLogicalId;
+
+      // if hash components were added to the deployment, we use them to calculate
+      // a logical ID for the deployment resource.
+      if (hash.length > 0) {
+        const md5 = crypto.createHash('md5');
+        hash.map(x => ctx.resolve(x)).forEach(c => md5.update(JSON.stringify(c)));
+        lid += md5.digest('hex');
+      }
+
+      return lid;
+    }}));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -149,28 +173,4 @@ class LatestDeploymentResource extends CfnDeployment {
 
     this.hashComponents.push(data);
   }
-
-  /**
-   * Hooks into synthesis to calculate a logical ID that hashes all the components
-   * add via `addToLogicalId`.
-   */
-  protected prepare() {
-    if (this.api instanceof RestApi || this.api instanceof SpecRestApi) { // Ignore IRestApi that are imported
-
-      // Add CfnRestApi to the logical id so a new deployment is triggered when any of its properties change.
-      const cfnRestApiCF = (this.api.node.defaultChild as any)._toCloudFormation();
-      this.addToLogicalId(Stack.of(this).resolve(cfnRestApiCF));
-    }
-
-    const stack = Stack.of(this);
-
-    // if hash components were added to the deployment, we use them to calculate
-    // a logical ID for the deployment resource.
-    if (this.hashComponents.length > 0) {
-      const md5 = crypto.createHash('md5');
-      this.hashComponents.map(x => stack.resolve(x)).forEach(c => md5.update(JSON.stringify(c)));
-      this.overrideLogicalId(this.originalLogicalId + md5.digest('hex'));
-    }
-    super.prepare();
-  }
 }
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/integ.restapi.multistack.expected.json b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/integ.restapi.multistack.expected.json
index 92ca8ad632bfc..5aa57732955bc 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/integ.restapi.multistack.expected.json
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/integ.restapi.multistack.expected.json
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
           "BooksApi60AC975F"
         ]
       },
-      "BooksApiDeployment86CA39AFc1570c78b1ea90526c0309cd74b7b8d0": {
+      "BooksApiDeployment86CA39AF4ff82f86c127f53c9de94d266b1906be": {
         "Type": "AWS::ApiGateway::Deployment",
         "Properties": {
           "RestApiId": {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
             "Ref": "BooksApi60AC975F"
           },
           "DeploymentId": {
-            "Ref": "BooksApiDeployment86CA39AFc1570c78b1ea90526c0309cd74b7b8d0"
+            "Ref": "BooksApiDeployment86CA39AF4ff82f86c127f53c9de94d266b1906be"
           },
           "StageName": "prod"
         }
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/test.deployment.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/test.deployment.ts
index 47118594132a5..0f5ce4a37732d 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/test.deployment.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-apigateway/test/test.deployment.ts
@@ -150,16 +150,16 @@ export = {
     // the logical ID changed
     const template = synthesize();
     test.ok(!template.Resources.deployment33381975bba46c5132329b81e7befcbbba5a0e75, 'old resource id is not deleted');
-    test.ok(template.Resources.deployment33381975075f46a4503208d69fcffed2f263c48c,
-      `new resource deployment33381975075f46a4503208d69fcffed2f263c48c is not created, instead found ${Object.keys(template.Resources)}`);
+    test.ok(template.Resources.deployment333819758aa4cdb9d204502b959c4903f4d5d29f,
+      `new resource deployment333819758aa4cdb9d204502b959c4903f4d5d29f is not created, instead found ${Object.keys(template.Resources)}`);
 
     // tokens supported, and are resolved upon synthesis
     const value = 'hello hello';
     deployment.addToLogicalId({ foo: Lazy.stringValue({ produce: () => value }) });
 
     const template2 = synthesize();
-    test.ok(template2.Resources.deployment33381975b6d7672e4c9afd0b741e41d07739786b,
-      `resource deployment33381975b6d7672e4c9afd0b741e41d07739786b not found, instead found ${Object.keys(template2.Resources)}`);
+    test.ok(template2.Resources.deployment333819758d91bed959c6bd6268ba84f6d33e888e,
+      `resource deployment333819758d91bed959c6bd6268ba84f6d33e888e not found, instead found ${Object.keys(template2.Resources)}`);
 
     test.done();
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts
index e4f91e7bcd58d..29942711ff781 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-cloudfront/test/distribution.test.ts
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ describe('with Lambda@Edge functions', () => {
             {
               EventType: 'origin-request',
               LambdaFunctionARN: {
-                Ref: 'FunctionCurrentVersion4E2B22619c0305f954e58f25575548280c0a3629',
+                Ref: 'FunctionCurrentVersion4E2B2261477a5ae8059bbaa7813f752292c0f65e',
               },
             },
           ],
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ describe('with Lambda@Edge functions', () => {
               {
                 EventType: 'viewer-request',
                 LambdaFunctionARN: {
-                  Ref: 'FunctionCurrentVersion4E2B22619c0305f954e58f25575548280c0a3629',
+                  Ref: 'FunctionCurrentVersion4E2B2261477a5ae8059bbaa7813f752292c0f65e',
                 },
               },
             ],
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-codepipeline-actions/test/cloudformation/test.pipeline-actions.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-codepipeline-actions/test/cloudformation/test.pipeline-actions.ts
index 9a6b99351ee7b..043e42952e7c0 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-codepipeline-actions/test/cloudformation/test.pipeline-actions.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-codepipeline-actions/test/cloudformation/test.pipeline-actions.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export = nodeunit.testCase({
         actions: [action],
       });
 
-      cdk.ConstructNode.prepare(stack.node);
+      app.synth();
 
       _assertPermissionGranted(test, stack, pipelineRole.statements, 'iam:PassRole', action.deploymentRole.roleArn);
 
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ec2/test/connections.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ec2/test/connections.test.ts
index 9c30e5f104cda..591d543827084 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ec2/test/connections.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-ec2/test/connections.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { expect, haveResource } from '@aws-cdk/assert';
-import { App, ConstructNode, Stack } from '@aws-cdk/core';
+import { App, Stack } from '@aws-cdk/core';
 import { nodeunitShim, Test } from 'nodeunit-shim';
 
 import {
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ nodeunitShim({
     sg2.connections.allowFrom(sg1, Port.tcp(100));
 
     // THEN -- both rules are in Stack2
-    ConstructNode.prepare(app.node);
+    app.synth();
 
     expect(stack2).to(haveResource('AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress', {
       GroupId: { 'Fn::GetAtt': [ 'SecurityGroupDD263621', 'GroupId' ] },
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ nodeunitShim({
     sg2.connections.allowTo(sg1, Port.tcp(100));
 
     // THEN -- both rules are in Stack2
-    ConstructNode.prepare(app.node);
+    app.synth();
 
     expect(stack2).to(haveResource('AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress', {
       GroupId: { 'Fn::ImportValue': 'Stack1:ExportsOutputFnGetAttSecurityGroupDD263621GroupIdDF6F8B09' },
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ nodeunitShim({
     sg2.connections.allowFrom(sg1b, Port.tcp(100));
 
     // THEN -- both egress rules are in Stack2
-    ConstructNode.prepare(app.node);
+    app.synth();
 
     expect(stack2).to(haveResource('AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupEgress', {
       GroupId: { 'Fn::ImportValue': 'Stack1:ExportsOutputFnGetAttSecurityGroupAED40ADC5GroupId1D10C76A' },
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/lib/function.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/lib/function.ts
index d450e85ca913a..92b6d64774751 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/lib/function.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/lib/function.ts
@@ -332,6 +332,18 @@ export class Function extends FunctionBase {
       ...this.currentVersionOptions,
     });
 
+    // override the version's logical ID with a lazy string which includes the
+    // hash of the function itself, so a new version resource is created when
+    // the function configuration changes.
+    const cfn = this._currentVersion.node.defaultChild as CfnResource;
+    const originalLogicalId = this.stack.resolve(cfn.logicalId) as string;
+
+    cfn.overrideLogicalId(Lazy.stringValue({ produce: _ => {
+      const hash = calculateFunctionHash(this);
+      const logicalId = trimFromStart(originalLogicalId, 255 - 32);
+      return `${logicalId}${hash}`;
+    }}));
+
     return this._currentVersion;
   }
 
@@ -739,23 +751,6 @@ export class Function extends FunctionBase {
     return this._logGroup;
   }
 
-  protected prepare() {
-    super.prepare();
-
-    // if we have a current version resource, override it's logical id
-    // so that it includes the hash of the function code and it's configuration.
-    if (this._currentVersion) {
-      const stack = Stack.of(this);
-      const cfn = this._currentVersion.node.defaultChild as CfnResource;
-      const originalLogicalId: string = stack.resolve(cfn.logicalId);
-
-      const hash = calculateFunctionHash(this);
-
-      const logicalId = trimFromStart(originalLogicalId, 255 - 32);
-      cfn.overrideLogicalId(`${logicalId}${hash}`);
-    }
-  }
-
   private renderEnvironment() {
     if (!this.environment || Object.keys(this.environment).length === 0) {
       return undefined;
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/integ.current-version.expected.json b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/integ.current-version.expected.json
index 1877a683a1740..bf269c8f6d555 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/integ.current-version.expected.json
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/integ.current-version.expected.json
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
         "MyLambdaServiceRole4539ECB6"
       ]
     },
-    "MyLambdaCurrentVersionE7A382CC86b18af374d6e380aa07074d2490e2df": {
+    "MyLambdaCurrentVersionE7A382CC721de083c6b4b6360a9c534b79eb610e": {
       "Type": "AWS::Lambda::Version",
       "Properties": {
         "FunctionName": {
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
         },
         "Qualifier": {
           "Fn::GetAtt": [
-            "MyLambdaCurrentVersionE7A382CC86b18af374d6e380aa07074d2490e2df",
+            "MyLambdaCurrentVersionE7A382CC721de083c6b4b6360a9c534b79eb610e",
             "Version"
           ]
         },
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
         },
         "FunctionVersion": {
           "Fn::GetAtt": [
-            "MyLambdaCurrentVersionE7A382CC86b18af374d6e380aa07074d2490e2df",
+            "MyLambdaCurrentVersionE7A382CC721de083c6b4b6360a9c534b79eb610e",
             "Version"
           ]
         },
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/test.lambda-version.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/test.lambda-version.ts
index 69e0f62e9c668..b7f283164b715 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/test.lambda-version.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-lambda/test/test.lambda-version.ts
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ export = {
       },
       'FunctionVersion': {
         'Fn::GetAtt': [
-          'FnCurrentVersion17A89ABB19ed45993ff69fd011ae9fd4ab6e2005',
+          'FnCurrentVersion17A89ABBab5c765f3c55e4e61583b51b00a95742',
           'Version',
         ],
       },
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-notifications/test/notifications.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-notifications/test/notifications.test.ts
index 7a5a3cf25b96d..cadf2609692f0 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-notifications/test/notifications.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/aws-s3-notifications/test/notifications.test.ts
@@ -290,8 +290,6 @@ test('a notification destination can specify a set of dependencies that must be
 
   bucket.addObjectCreatedNotification(dest);
 
-  cdk.ConstructNode.prepare(stack.node);
-
   expect(SynthUtils.synthesize(stack).template.Resources.BucketNotifications8F2E257D).toEqual({
     Type: 'Custom::S3BucketNotifications',
     Properties: {
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/synthesis.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/synthesis.ts
index 34aa158740242..296ba171efde9 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/synthesis.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/synthesis.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 import * as cxapi from '@aws-cdk/cx-api';
 import * as constructs from 'constructs';
 import { Construct, IConstruct, SynthesisOptions, ValidationError } from '../construct-compat';
+import { Stack } from '../stack';
 import { Stage, StageSynthesisOptions } from '../stage';
 import { prepareApp } from './prepare-app';
+import { TreeMetadata } from './tree-metadata';
 
 export function synthesize(root: IConstruct, options: SynthesisOptions = { }): cxapi.CloudAssembly {
   // we start by calling "synth" on all nested assemblies (which will take care of all their children)
@@ -103,10 +105,22 @@ function prepareTree(root: IConstruct) {
  * Stop at Assembly boundaries.
  */
 function synthesizeTree(root: IConstruct, builder: cxapi.CloudAssemblyBuilder) {
-  visit(root, 'post', construct => construct.onSynthesize({
-    outdir: builder.outdir,
-    assembly: builder,
-  }));
+  visit(root, 'post', construct => {
+    const session = {
+      outdir: builder.outdir,
+      assembly: builder,
+    };
+
+    if (construct instanceof Stack) {
+      construct._synthesizeTemplate(session);
+    } else if (construct instanceof TreeMetadata) {
+      construct._synthesizeTree(session);
+    }
+
+    // this will soon be deprecated and removed in 2.x
+    // see https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk-rfcs/issues/192
+    construct.onSynthesize(session);
+  });
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/tree-metadata.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/tree-metadata.ts
index a40481faa9b2d..b2f288d97b4b4 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/tree-metadata.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/private/tree-metadata.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ export class TreeMetadata extends Construct {
     super(scope, 'Tree');
   }
 
-  protected synthesize(session: ISynthesisSession) {
+  /**
+   * Create tree.json
+   * @internal
+   */
+  public _synthesizeTree(session: ISynthesisSession) {
     const lookup: { [path: string]: Node } = { };
 
     const visit = (construct: IConstruct): Node => {
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/stack.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/stack.ts
index c7c20e8bb0c73..3f79c43aec18e 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/stack.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/lib/stack.ts
@@ -700,6 +700,32 @@ export class Stack extends Construct implements ITaggable {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Synthesizes the cloudformation template into a cloud assembly.
+   * @internal
+   */
+  public _synthesizeTemplate(session: ISynthesisSession): void {
+    // In principle, stack synthesis is delegated to the
+    // StackSynthesis object.
+    //
+    // However, some parts of synthesis currently use some private
+    // methods on Stack, and I don't really see the value in refactoring
+    // this right now, so some parts still happen here.
+    const builder = session.assembly;
+
+    // write the CloudFormation template as a JSON file
+    const outPath = path.join(builder.outdir, this.templateFile);
+    const text = JSON.stringify(this._toCloudFormation(), undefined, 2);
+    fs.writeFileSync(outPath, text);
+
+    for (const ctx of this._missingContext) {
+      builder.addMissing(ctx);
+    }
+
+    // Delegate adding artifacts to the Synthesizer
+    this.synthesizer.synthesizeStackArtifacts(session);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns the naming scheme used to allocate logical IDs. By default, uses
    * the `HashedAddressingScheme` but this method can be overridden to customize
@@ -761,28 +787,6 @@ export class Stack extends Construct implements ITaggable {
     }
   }
 
-  protected synthesize(session: ISynthesisSession): void {
-    // In principle, stack synthesis is delegated to the
-    // StackSynthesis object.
-    //
-    // However, some parts of synthesis currently use some private
-    // methods on Stack, and I don't really see the value in refactoring
-    // this right now, so some parts still happen here.
-    const builder = session.assembly;
-
-    // write the CloudFormation template as a JSON file
-    const outPath = path.join(builder.outdir, this.templateFile);
-    const text = JSON.stringify(this._toCloudFormation(), undefined, 2);
-    fs.writeFileSync(outPath, text);
-
-    for (const ctx of this._missingContext) {
-      builder.addMissing(ctx);
-    }
-
-    // Delegate adding artifacts to the Synthesizer
-    this.synthesizer.synthesizeStackArtifacts(session);
-  }
-
   /**
    * Returns the CloudFormation template for this stack by traversing
    * the tree and invoking _toCloudFormation() on all Entity objects.
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/test/test.stack.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/test/test.stack.ts
index 7ae1adc077798..c6a3be31af013 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/core/test/test.stack.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/core/test/test.stack.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import * as cxapi from '@aws-cdk/cx-api';
 import { Test } from 'nodeunit';
 import {
   App, CfnCondition, CfnInclude, CfnOutput, CfnParameter,
-  CfnResource, Construct, Lazy, ScopedAws, Stack, Tag, validateString } from '../lib';
+  CfnResource, Construct, Lazy, ScopedAws, Stack, Tag, validateString, ISynthesisSession } from '../lib';
 import { Intrinsic } from '../lib/private/intrinsic';
 import { resolveReferences } from '../lib/private/refs';
 import { PostResolveToken } from '../lib/util';
@@ -868,6 +868,25 @@ export = {
 
     test.done();
   },
+
+  'users can (still) override "synthesize()" in stack'(test: Test) {
+    let called = false;
+
+    class MyStack extends Stack {
+      synthesize(session: ISynthesisSession) {
+        called = true;
+        test.ok(session.outdir);
+        test.equal(session.assembly.outdir, session.outdir);
+      }
+    }
+
+    const app = new App();
+    new MyStack(app, 'my-stack');
+
+    app.synth();
+    test.ok(called, 'synthesize() not called for Stack');
+    test.done();
+  },
 };
 
 class StackWithPostProcessor extends Stack {