diff --git a/resources/content-server/autoreload.js b/resources/content-server/autoreload.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 573cee5355..0000000000
--- a/resources/content-server/autoreload.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-/* vim:fileencoding=utf-8
- * 
- * Copyright (C) 2015 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
- *
- * Distributed under terms of the GPLv3 license
- */
-
-(function(autoreload_port) {
-    "use strict";
-    var host = document.location.host.split(':')[0];
-    var url = 'ws://' + host + ':' + autoreload_port;
-    var MAX_RETRIES = 10;
-
-    function ReconnectingWebSocket() {
-        self = this;
-        self.retries = 0;
-        self.interval = 100;
-        self.disable = false;
-        self.opened_at_least_once = false;
-
-        self.reconnect = function() {
-            self.ws = new WebSocket(url);
-
-            self.ws.onopen = function(event) {
-                self.retries = 0;
-                self.opened_at_least_once = true;
-                self.interval = 100;
-                console.log('Connected to reloading WebSocket server at: ' + url);
-                window.addEventListener('beforeunload', function (event) {
-                    console.log('Shutting down connection to reload server, before page unload');
-                    self.disable = true;
-                    self.ws.close();
-                });
-            };
-
-            self.ws.onmessage = function(event) {
-                if (event.data !== 'ping') console.log('Received mesasge from reload server: ' + event.data);
-                if (event.data === 'reload') window.location.reload(true);
-            };
-
-            self.ws.onclose = function(event) {
-                if (self.disable || !self.opened_at_least_once) return;
-                console.log('Connection to reload server closed with code: ' + event.code + ' and reason: ' + event.reason);
-                self.retries += 1;
-                if (self.retries < MAX_RETRIES) {
-                    setTimeout(self.reconnect, self.interval);
-                } else window.location.reload(true);
-            };
-        };
-        self.reconnect();
-    }
-
-    var sock = new ReconnectingWebSocket();
-})(AUTORELOAD_PORT);
-
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/code.py b/src/calibre/srv/code.py
index 0701d26b4f..ea105c82be 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/code.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/code.py
@@ -28,12 +28,16 @@ def index(ctx, rd):
     return lopen(P('content-server/index-generated.html'), 'rb')
 
 
-@endpoint('/auto-reload', auth_required=False)
+@endpoint('/calibre.appcache', auth_required=False, cache_control='no-cache')
+def appcache(ctx, rd):
+    return lopen(P('content-server/calibre.appcache'), 'rb')
+
+
+@endpoint('/auto-reload-port', auth_required=False, cache_control='no-cache')
 def auto_reload(ctx, rd):
     auto_reload_port = getattr(rd.opts, 'auto_reload_port', 0)
-    if auto_reload_port > 0:
-        rd.outheaders.set('Calibre-Auto-Reload-Port', type('')(auto_reload_port), replace_all=True)
-    return lopen(P('content-server/autoreload.js'), 'rb')
+    rd.outheaders.set('Content-Type', 'text/plain')
+    return str(max(0, auto_reload_port))
 
 
 @endpoint('/console-print', methods=('POST',))
diff --git a/src/pyj/autoreload.pyj b/src/pyj/autoreload.pyj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..98c9f3f543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pyj/autoreload.pyj
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+# License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2017, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+from __python__ import bound_methods, hash_literals
+
+MAX_RETRIES = 10
+
+class Watcher:
+
+    def __init__(self, autoreload_port):
+        host = document.location.host.split(':')[0]
+        self.url = 'ws://' + host + ':' + autoreload_port
+        self.retries = 0
+        self.interval = 100
+        self.disable = False
+        self.opened_at_least_once = False
+        self.reconnect()
+
+    def reconnect(self):
+        self.ws = WebSocket(self.url)
+
+        self.ws.onopen = def(event):
+            self.retries = 0
+            self.opened_at_least_once = True
+            self.interval = 100
+            print('Connected to reloading WebSocket server at: ' + self.url)
+            window.addEventListener('beforeunload', def (event):
+                print('Shutting down connection to reload server, before page unload')
+                self.disable = True
+                self.ws.close()
+            )
+
+        self.ws.onmessage = def(event):
+            if event.data is not 'ping':
+                print('Received mesasge from reload server: ' + event.data)
+            if event.data is 'reload':
+                self.reload_app()
+
+        self.ws.onclose = def (event):
+            if self.disable or not self.opened_at_least_once:
+                return
+            print('Connection to reload server closed with code: ' + event.code + ' and reason: ' + event.reason)
+            self.retries += 1
+            if (self.retries < MAX_RETRIES):
+                setTimeout(self.reconnect, self.interval)
+            else:
+                self.reload_app()
+
+    def reload_app(self):
+        window.location.reload(True)
+
+
+def create_auto_reload_watcher(autoreload_port):
+    if not create_auto_reload_watcher.watcher:
+        create_auto_reload_watcher.watcher = Watcher(autoreload_port)
+    return create_auto_reload_watcher.watcher
diff --git a/src/pyj/srv.pyj b/src/pyj/srv.pyj
index 8ef60d169d..c31d4bf03c 100644
--- a/src/pyj/srv.pyj
+++ b/src/pyj/srv.pyj
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from __python__ import hash_literals
 
 import initialize  # noqa: unused-import
 from ajax import ajax
-
+from autoreload import create_auto_reload_watcher
 from book_list.globals import main_js
 from book_list.main import main
 from read_book.iframe import init
@@ -23,10 +23,9 @@ else:
     # we know are going to be needed immediately.
     window.addEventListener('load', main)
 
-    ajax('auto-reload', def(end_type, xhr, event):
+    ajax('auto-reload-port', def(end_type, xhr, event):
         if end_type is 'load':
-            port = xhr.getResponseHeader('Calibre-Auto-Reload-Port')
-            if port:
-                src = xhr.responseText.replace('AUTORELOAD_PORT', port)
-                eval(src)
+            port = parseInt(xhr.responseText)
+            if not isNaN(port) and port > 0:
+                create_auto_reload_watcher(port)
     ).send()  # We must bypass cache as otherwise we could get stale port info