diff --git a/THANKS b/THANKS
index 49cff951..c3b99cec 100644
--- a/THANKS
+++ b/THANKS
@@ -162,3 +162,4 @@ Wolfgang Schnerring <wosc@wosc.de>
 Jason Madden <jason@nextthought.com>
 Eugene Obukhov <irvind25@gmail.com>
 Jan-Philip Gehrcke <jgehrcke@googlemail.com>
+Mark Adams <mark@markadams.me>
diff --git a/gunicorn/config.py b/gunicorn/config.py
index ce8b41d8..02489a90 100644
--- a/gunicorn/config.py
+++ b/gunicorn/config.py
@@ -820,6 +820,22 @@ class Reload(Setting):
         application code or the reload will not work as designed.
         '''
 
+class ReloadInotify(Setting):
+    name = 'inotify'
+    section = 'Debugging'
+    cli = ['--use-inotify']
+    validator = validate_bool
+    action = "store_true"
+    default = False
+
+    desc = '''\
+        When using the 'reload' option, use the kernel's inotify APIs to watch 
+        files instead of polling the filesystem. On many systems this could result
+        in a performance improvement when using 'reload'.
+
+        This setting must be used in conjunction with 'reload' and requires the
+        'inotify' package be installed from PyPI.
+        '''
 
 class Spew(Setting):
     name = "spew"
diff --git a/gunicorn/reloader.py b/gunicorn/reloader.py
index 130e3d60..b5e7679f 100644
--- a/gunicorn/reloader.py
+++ b/gunicorn/reloader.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # See the NOTICE for more information.
 
 import os
+import os.path
 import re
 import sys
 import time
@@ -51,3 +52,64 @@ class Reloader(threading.Thread):
                     if self._callback:
                         self._callback(filename)
             time.sleep(self._interval)
+
+try:
+    from inotify.adapters import Inotify
+    import inotify.constants
+    has_inotify = True
+except ImportError:
+    has_inotify = False
+
+class InotifyReloader():
+    def __init__(self, callback=None):
+        raise ImportError('You must have the inotify module installed to use the INotify reloader')
+
+if has_inotify:
+
+    class InotifyReloader(threading.Thread):
+        event_mask = (inotify.constants.IN_CREATE | inotify.constants.IN_DELETE 
+                      | inotify.constants.IN_DELETE_SELF | inotify.constants.IN_MODIFY 
+                      | inotify.constants.IN_MOVE_SELF | inotify.constants.IN_MOVED_FROM 
+                      | inotify.constants.IN_MOVED_TO)
+        
+        def __init__(self, extra_files=None, callback=None):
+            super(InotifyReloader, self).__init__()
+            self.setDaemon(True)
+            self._callback = callback
+            self._dirs = set()
+            self._watcher = Inotify()
+
+        def add_extra_file(self, filename):
+            dirname = os.path.dirname(filename)
+
+            if dirname in self._dirs:
+                return
+
+            self._watcher.add_watch(dirname, mask=self.event_mask)
+            self._dirs.add(dirname)
+
+        def get_dirs(self):
+            fnames = [
+                os.path.dirname(re.sub('py[co]$', 'py', module.__file__))
+                for module in list(sys.modules.values())
+                if hasattr(module, '__file__')
+            ]
+
+            return set(fnames)
+
+        def run(self):
+            self._dirs = self.get_dirs()
+
+            for dirname in self._dirs:
+                self._watcher.add_watch(dirname, mask=self.event_mask)
+            
+            for event in self._watcher.event_gen():
+                if event is None:
+                    continue
+                
+                types = event[1]
+                filename = event[3]
+
+                self._callback(filename)
+
+
diff --git a/gunicorn/workers/base.py b/gunicorn/workers/base.py
index 4ceb691b..887ad8d6 100644
--- a/gunicorn/workers/base.py
+++ b/gunicorn/workers/base.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import traceback
 
 from gunicorn import util
 from gunicorn.workers.workertmp import WorkerTmp
-from gunicorn.reloader import Reloader
+from gunicorn.reloader import Reloader, InotifyReloader, has_inotify
 from gunicorn.http.errors import (
     InvalidHeader, InvalidHeaderName, InvalidRequestLine, InvalidRequestMethod,
     InvalidHTTPVersion, LimitRequestLine, LimitRequestHeaders,
@@ -85,18 +85,6 @@ class Worker(object):
         loop is initiated.
         """
 
-        # start the reloader
-        if self.cfg.reload:
-            def changed(fname):
-                self.log.info("Worker reloading: %s modified", fname)
-                self.alive = False
-                self.cfg.worker_int(self)
-                time.sleep(0.1)
-                sys.exit(0)
-
-            self.reloader = Reloader(callback=changed)
-            self.reloader.start()
-
         # set environment' variables
         if self.cfg.env:
             for k, v in self.cfg.env.items():
@@ -126,6 +114,19 @@ class Worker(object):
 
         self.load_wsgi()
 
+        # start the reloader
+        if self.cfg.reload:
+            def changed(fname):
+                self.log.info("Worker reloading: %s modified", fname)
+                self.alive = False
+                self.cfg.worker_int(self)
+                time.sleep(0.1)
+                sys.exit(0)
+            
+            reloader_cls = Reloader if not self.cfg.inotify else InotifyReloader
+            self.reloader = reloader_cls(callback=changed)
+            self.reloader.start()
+
         self.cfg.post_worker_init(self)
 
         # Enter main run loop