diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 0e9c180..fb7ac37 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -324,6 +324,19 @@ static void initialize_config_defaults (struct config_s *conf)
         conf->idletimeout = MAX_IDLE_TIME;
 }
 
+/**
+ * convenience wrapper around reload_config_file
+ */
+int reload_config (void)
+{
+        int ret;
+
+        ret = reload_config_file (config_defaults.config_file, &config,
+                                  &config_defaults);
+
+        return ret;
+}
+
 int
 main (int argc, char **argv)
 {
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index f3864e4..91fe61a 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -33,4 +33,6 @@ extern struct config_s config;
 extern unsigned int received_sighup;    /* boolean */
 extern unsigned int processed_config_file;      /* boolean */
 
+extern int reload_config (void);
+
 #endif /* __MAIN_H__ */