diff --git a/daemon/main.c b/daemon/main.c
index 3a064b3af..8ebe86a66 100644
--- a/daemon/main.c
+++ b/daemon/main.c
@@ -674,6 +674,7 @@ static void options(int *argc, char ***argv, GHashTable *templates) {
 		{ "kernel-player",0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_config.kernel_player,"Max number of kernel media player streams","INT"},
 		{ "kernel-player-media",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_config.kernel_player_media,"Max number of kernel media files","INT"},
 		{ "preload-media-files",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME_ARRAY,&rtpe_config.preload_media_files,"Preload media file(s) for playback into memory","FILE"},
+		{ "media-files-reload",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_config.media_refresh,"Refresh/reload preloaded media files at a certain interval","SECONDS"},
 		{ "audio-buffer-length",0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,&rtpe_config.audio_buffer_length,"Length in milliseconds of audio buffer","INT"},
 		{ "audio-buffer-delay",0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,&rtpe_config.audio_buffer_delay,"Initial delay in milliseconds for buffered audio","INT"},
 		{ "audio-player",0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&use_audio_player,	"When to enable the internal audio player","on-demand|play-media|transcoding|always"},
@@ -1586,6 +1587,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	/* thread to refresh DTLS certificate */
 	dtls_timer();
 
+	thread_create_looper(media_player_refresh_timer, rtpe_config.idle_scheduling,
+			rtpe_config.idle_priority, "media refresh", rtpe_config.media_refresh * 1000000LL);
+
 	if (!is_addr_unspecified(&rtpe_config.redis_ep.address) && initial_rtpe_config.redis_delete_async)
 		thread_create_detach(redis_delete_async_loop, NULL, "redis async");
 
diff --git a/daemon/media_player.c b/daemon/media_player.c
index da76cf786..3fafc51a6 100644
--- a/daemon/media_player.c
+++ b/daemon/media_player.c
@@ -1988,3 +1988,12 @@ unsigned int media_player_reload_files(void) {
 
 	return ret;
 }
+
+enum thread_looper_action media_player_refresh_timer(void) {
+	if (rtpe_config.media_refresh <= 0)
+		return TLA_BREAK;
+
+	media_player_reload_files();
+
+	return TLA_CONTINUE;
+}
diff --git a/docs/rtpengine.md b/docs/rtpengine.md
index fd9b534a8..a15b028dd 100644
--- a/docs/rtpengine.md
+++ b/docs/rtpengine.md
@@ -1159,6 +1159,14 @@ call to inject-DTMF won't be sent to __\-\-dtmf-log-dest=__ or __\-\-listen-tcp-
     file name differs (or an entirely different file is requested for playback)
     then playback will happen from file as usual.
 
+- __\-\-media-files-reload=__*SECONDS*
+
+    Spawn a background thread to periodically check and, if needed, update
+    media files kept in the memory cache. Each file's modification timestamp is
+    checked against the last time it was read, and if the file was updated
+    since then, it will be re-read and will replace the previous cached
+    contents.
+
 - __\-\-audio-buffer-length=__*INT*
 
     Set the buffer length used by the audio player (see below) in milliseconds. The
diff --git a/etc/rtpengine.conf b/etc/rtpengine.conf
index 0049f99f5..338eb6a73 100644
--- a/etc/rtpengine.conf
+++ b/etc/rtpengine.conf
@@ -166,6 +166,7 @@ recording-method = proc
 # moh-attr-name = rtpengine-hold
 
 # preload-media-files = /var/media/file1.wav ; /var/media/file2.wav ; /var/media/file3.wav
+# media-files-reload = 60
 
 # signalling templates (see key `templates` above)
 [templates]
diff --git a/include/main.h b/include/main.h
index 27844a3d8..b3ff8b47f 100644
--- a/include/main.h
+++ b/include/main.h
@@ -92,7 +92,8 @@ enum endpoint_learning {
 	X(mqtt_publish_interval) \
 	X(rtcp_interval) \
 	X(cpu_affinity) \
-	X(max_recv_iters)
+	X(max_recv_iters) \
+	X(media_refresh) \
 
 #define RTPE_CONFIG_UINT64_PARAMS \
 	X(bw_limit)
diff --git a/include/media_player.h b/include/media_player.h
index fbe385753..339e682df 100644
--- a/include/media_player.h
+++ b/include/media_player.h
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ void media_player_launch(void);
 bool media_player_preload_files(char **);
 bool media_player_reload_file(str *name);
 unsigned int media_player_reload_files(void);
+enum thread_looper_action media_player_refresh_timer(void);
 
 struct send_timer *send_timer_new(struct packet_stream *);
 void send_timer_push(struct send_timer *, struct codec_packet *);