diff --git a/src/api.c b/src/api.c
index 264276b4..a9e4e568 100644
--- a/src/api.c
+++ b/src/api.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static int start(svc_t *svc)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int restart(svc_t *svc)
+static int reload(svc_t *svc)
 {
 	if (!svc)
 		return 1;
@@ -88,9 +88,9 @@ static int restart(svc_t *svc)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int do_start  (char *buf, size_t len) { return call(start,   buf, len); }
-static int do_stop   (char *buf, size_t len) { return call(stop,    buf, len); }
-static int do_restart(char *buf, size_t len) { return call(restart, buf, len); }
+static int do_start (char *buf, size_t len) { return call(start,  buf, len); }
+static int do_stop  (char *buf, size_t len) { return call(stop,   buf, len); }
+static int do_reload(char *buf, size_t len) { return call(reload, buf, len); }
 
 static char query_buf[368];
 static int missing(char *job, char *id)
@@ -333,10 +333,10 @@ static void api_cb(uev_t *w, void *arg, int events)
 			result = do_stop(rq.data, sizeof(rq.data));
 			break;
 
-		case INIT_CMD_RESTART_SVC:
-			_d("restart %s", rq.data);
+		case INIT_CMD_RELOAD_SVC:
+			_d("reload %s", rq.data);
 			strterm(rq.data, sizeof(rq.data));
-			result = do_restart(rq.data, sizeof(rq.data));
+			result = do_reload(rq.data, sizeof(rq.data));
 			break;
 
 		case INIT_CMD_GET_RUNLEVEL:
diff --git a/src/initctl.c b/src/initctl.c
index 6e92a105..f6d200bd 100644
--- a/src/initctl.c
+++ b/src/initctl.c
@@ -193,7 +193,8 @@ static int do_svc(int cmd, char *arg)
 {
 	struct init_request rq = {
 		.magic = INIT_MAGIC,
-		.cmd = cmd,
+		.cmd   = cmd,
+		.data  = "",
 	};
 
 	if (arg)
@@ -202,8 +203,6 @@ static int do_svc(int cmd, char *arg)
 	return client_send(&rq, sizeof(rq));
 }
 
-static int do_reload (char *arg) { return do_svc(INIT_CMD_RELOAD,      arg); }
-
 /*
  * This is a wrapper for do_svc() that adds a simple sanity check of
  * the service(s) provided as argument.  If a service does not exist
@@ -237,7 +236,35 @@ static int do_startstop(int cmd, char *arg)
 
 static int do_start  (char *arg) { return do_startstop(INIT_CMD_START_SVC,   arg); }
 static int do_stop   (char *arg) { return do_startstop(INIT_CMD_STOP_SVC,    arg); }
-static int do_restart(char *arg) { return do_startstop(INIT_CMD_RESTART_SVC, arg); }
+
+static int do_reload (char *arg)
+{
+	if (!arg || !arg[0])
+		return do_svc(INIT_CMD_RELOAD, NULL);
+
+	return do_startstop(INIT_CMD_RELOAD_SVC, arg);
+}
+
+static int do_restart(char *arg)
+{
+	size_t retries = 3;
+	svc_t *svc;
+
+	if (do_startstop(INIT_CMD_STOP_SVC, arg))
+		return 1;
+
+	while (retries-- > 0 && (svc = client_svc_find(arg))) {
+		if (!svc_is_running(svc))
+			break;
+
+		sleep(1);
+	}
+
+	if (retries == 0)
+		errx(1, "Failed stopping %s (restart)", arg);
+
+	return do_startstop(INIT_CMD_START_SVC, arg);
+}
 
 static int dump_one_cond(const char *fpath, const struct stat *sb, int tflag, struct FTW *ftwbuf)
 {
@@ -789,6 +816,7 @@ static int usage(int rc)
 		"  log      [NAME]           Show ten last Finit, or NAME, messages from syslog\n"
 		"  start    <NAME>[:ID]      Start service by name, with optional ID\n"
 		"  stop     <NAME>[:ID]      Stop/Pause a running service by name\n"
+		"  reload   <NAME>[:ID]      Reload service by name (SIGHUP or restart)\n"
 		"  restart  <NAME>[:ID]      Restart (stop/start) service by name\n"
 		"  status   <NAME>[:ID]      Show service status, by name\n"
 		"  status                    Show status of services, default command\n"
diff --git a/src/svc.h b/src/svc.h
index f20d5bec..de16bb49 100644
--- a/src/svc.h
+++ b/src/svc.h
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ static inline int svc_has_pidfile  (svc_t *svc) { return svc_is_daemon(svc) && s
 static inline void svc_starting    (svc_t *svc) { if (svc) svc->starting = 1;       }
 static inline void svc_started     (svc_t *svc) { if (svc) svc->starting = 0;       }
 static inline int  svc_is_starting (svc_t *svc) { return svc && 0 != svc->starting; }
+static inline int  svc_is_running  (svc_t *svc) { return svc && svc->state == SVC_RUNNING_STATE; }
 
 static inline int  svc_is_removed  (svc_t *svc) { return svc && svc->removed; }
 static inline int  svc_is_changed  (svc_t *svc) { return svc &&  0 != svc->dirty; }