diff --git a/src/calibre/library/database2.py b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
index cec88b6d5c..e30b11cb20 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/database2.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
@@ -439,6 +439,8 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase):
         self.count   = self.data.count
 
         self.refresh()
+        self.last_update_check = self.last_modified()
+
 
         def get_property(idx, index_is_id=False, loc=-1):
             row = self.data._data[idx] if index_is_id else self.data[idx]
@@ -672,6 +674,11 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase):
         ''' Return last modified time as a UTC datetime object'''
         return datetime.utcfromtimestamp(os.stat(self.dbpath).st_mtime)
 
+    def check_if_modified(self):
+        if self.last_modified() > self.last_update_check:
+            self.refresh()
+        self.last_update_check = datetime.utcnow()
+
     def path(self, index, index_is_id=False):
         'Return the relative path to the directory containing this books files as a unicode string.'
         row = self.data._data[index] if index_is_id else self.data[index]
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/server.py b/src/calibre/library/server.py
index fc855f35ce..15746cbc61 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/server.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/server.py
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ def expose(func):
 
     def do(self, *args, **kwargs):
         dict.update(cherrypy.response.headers, {'Server':self.server_name})
+        if not self.embedded:
+            self.db.check_if_modified()
         return func(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
     return cherrypy.expose(do)
@@ -344,6 +346,7 @@ class LibraryServer(object):
             item
             break
         self.opts = opts
+        self.embedded = embedded
         self.max_cover_width, self.max_cover_height = \
                         map(int, self.opts.max_cover.split('x'))
         self.max_stanza_items = opts.max_opds_items