diff --git a/lib/base/application.cpp b/lib/base/application.cpp
index 1c1aa6776..6f0f9d660 100644
--- a/lib/base/application.cpp
+++ b/lib/base/application.cpp
@@ -431,7 +431,8 @@ pid_t Application::StartReloadProcess()
 	args.push_back("--reload-internal");
 	args.push_back(Convert::ToString(Utility::GetPid()));
 #else /* _WIN32 */
-	args.push_back("--validate");
+	args.push_back("--restart-service");
+	args.push_back("icinga2");
 #endif /* _WIN32 */
 
 	Process::Ptr process = new Process(Process::PrepareCommand(new Array(std::move(args))));
diff --git a/lib/cli/daemoncommand.cpp b/lib/cli/daemoncommand.cpp
index 40f723f2b..199fa67ff 100644
--- a/lib/cli/daemoncommand.cpp
+++ b/lib/cli/daemoncommand.cpp
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ void DaemonCommand::InitParameters(boost::program_options::options_description&
 #ifndef _WIN32
 	hiddenDesc.add_options()
 		("reload-internal", po::value<int>(), "used internally to implement config reload: do not call manually, send SIGHUP instead");
+#else
+	hiddenDesc.add_options()
+		("restart-service", po::value<std::string>(), "tries to restart the Icinga 2 service");
 #endif /* _WIN32 */
 }
 
@@ -212,6 +215,42 @@ int DaemonCommand::Run(const po::variables_map& vm, const std::vector<std::strin
 	if (!DaemonUtility::LoadConfigFiles(configs, newItems, Application::GetObjectsPath(), Application::GetVarsPath()))
 		return EXIT_FAILURE;
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+	if (vm.count("restart-service")) {
+		SC_HANDLE handleManager = OpenSCManager(NULL, NULL, SC_MANAGER_ALL_ACCESS);
+		if (!handleManager) {
+			Log(LogCritical, "cli") << "Failed to open service manager. Error code: " << GetLastError();
+			return EXIT_FAILURE;
+		}
+
+		std::string service = vm["restart-service"].as<std::string>();
+
+		SC_HANDLE handleService = OpenService(handleManager, service.c_str(), SERVICE_START | SERVICE_STOP);
+		if (!handleService) {
+			Log(LogCritical, "cli") << "Failed to open service handle of '" << service << "'. Error code: " << GetLastError();
+			return EXIT_FAILURE;
+		}
+
+		SERVICE_STATUS serviceStatus;
+		if (!ControlService(handleService, SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP, &serviceStatus)) {
+			DWORD error = GetLastError();
+			if (error = ERROR_SERVICE_NOT_ACTIVE)
+				Log(LogInformation, "cli") << "Service '" << service << "' is not running.";
+			else {
+				Log(LogCritical, "cli") << "Failed to stop service. Error code: " << GetLastError();
+				return EXIT_FAILURE;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (!StartService(handleService, 0, NULL)) {
+			Log(LogCritical, "cli") << "Failed to start up service '" << service << "'. Error code: " << GetLastError();
+			return EXIT_FAILURE;
+		}
+
+		return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+	}
+#endif /* _WIN32 */
+
 	if (vm.count("validate")) {
 		Log(LogInformation, "cli", "Finished validating the configuration file(s).");
 		return EXIT_SUCCESS;