diff --git a/bitbake/bin/toaster b/bitbake/bin/toaster
index 34a4e8f6f7..c89e015706 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/toaster
+++ b/bitbake/bin/toaster
@@ -268,6 +268,15 @@ if [ `basename \"$0\"` = `basename \"${TOASTER}\"` ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ "$1" = 'restart-bitbake' ] ; then
+    stop_bitbake
+    sleep 1
+    start_bitbake
+    rc=$?
+    sleep 1
+    return $rc
+fi
+
 if ! verify_prereq; then
     echo "Error: Could not verify that the needed dependencies are installed. Please use virtualenv and pip to install dependencies listed in toaster-requirements.txt" 1>&2
     return 1