diff --git a/src/signaling/backend_client.go b/src/signaling/backend_client.go
index a66979b..44aa120 100644
--- a/src/signaling/backend_client.go
+++ b/src/signaling/backend_client.go
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ func NewBackendClient(config *goconf.ConfigFile, maxConcurrentRequestsPerHost in
 	}, nil
 }
 
+func (b *BackendClient) Reload(config *goconf.ConfigFile) {
+	b.backends.Reload(config)
+}
+
 func (b *BackendClient) getPool(url *url.URL) (*HttpClientPool, error) {
 	b.mu.Lock()
 	defer b.mu.Unlock()
diff --git a/src/signaling/backend_configuration.go b/src/signaling/backend_configuration.go
index c99cefe..ceaf506 100644
--- a/src/signaling/backend_configuration.go
+++ b/src/signaling/backend_configuration.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ package signaling
 import (
 	"log"
 	"net/url"
+	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/dlintw/goconf"
@@ -70,40 +71,11 @@ func NewBackendConfiguration(config *goconf.ConfigFile) (*BackendConfiguration,
 			compat: true,
 		}
 	} else if backendIds, _ := config.GetString("backend", "backends"); backendIds != "" {
-		seenIds := make(map[string]bool)
-		for _, id := range strings.Split(backendIds, ",") {
-			id = strings.TrimSpace(id)
-			if id == "" {
-				continue
+		for host, configuredBackends := range getConfiguredHosts(config) {
+			backends[host] = append(backends[host], configuredBackends...)
+			for _, be := range configuredBackends {
+				log.Printf("Backend %s added for %s", be.id, be.url)
 			}
-
-			if seenIds[id] {
-				continue
-			}
-			seenIds[id] = true
-
-			u, _ := config.GetString(id, "url")
-			secret, _ := config.GetString(id, "secret")
-			if u == "" || secret == "" {
-				log.Printf("Backend %s is missing or incomplete, skipping", id)
-				continue
-			}
-
-			if u[len(u)-1] != '/' {
-				u += "/"
-			}
-			parsed, err := url.Parse(u)
-			if err != nil {
-				log.Printf("Backend %s has an invalid url %s configured (%s), skipping", id, u, err)
-				continue
-			}
-
-			backends[parsed.Host] = append(backends[parsed.Host], &Backend{
-				id:     id,
-				url:    u,
-				secret: []byte(secret),
-			})
-			log.Printf("Backend %s added for %s", id, u)
 		}
 	} else if allowedUrls, _ := config.GetString("backend", "allowed"); allowedUrls != "" {
 		// Old-style configuration, only hosts are configured and are using a common secret.
@@ -148,6 +120,101 @@ func NewBackendConfiguration(config *goconf.ConfigFile) (*BackendConfiguration,
 	}, nil
 }
 
+func (b *BackendConfiguration) RemoveBackend(host string) {
+	delete(b.backends, host)
+}
+
+func (b *BackendConfiguration) UpsertHost(host string, backends []*Backend) {
+	existingIndex := 0
+	for _, existingBackend := range b.backends[host] {
+		found := false
+		index := 0
+		for _, newBackend := range backends {
+			if reflect.DeepEqual(existingBackend, newBackend) { // otherwise we could manually compare the struct members here
+				found = true
+				backends = append(backends[:index], backends[index+1:]...)
+				break
+			}
+			index++
+		}
+		if !found {
+			b.backends[host] = append(b.backends[host][:existingIndex], b.backends[host][existingIndex+1:]...)
+		}
+		existingIndex++
+	}
+
+	b.backends[host] = append(b.backends[host], backends...)
+}
+
+func getConfiguredBackendIDs(config *goconf.ConfigFile) (ids map[string]bool) {
+	ids = make(map[string]bool)
+
+	if backendIds, _ := config.GetString("backend", "backends"); backendIds != "" {
+		for _, id := range strings.Split(backendIds, ",") {
+			id = strings.TrimSpace(id)
+			if id == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			ids[id] = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ids
+}
+
+func getConfiguredHosts(config *goconf.ConfigFile) (hosts map[string][]*Backend) {
+	hosts = make(map[string][]*Backend)
+	for id := range getConfiguredBackendIDs(config) {
+		u, _ := config.GetString(id, "url")
+		if u == "" {
+			log.Printf("Backend %s is missing or incomplete, skipping", id)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if u[len(u)-1] != '/' {
+			u += "/"
+		}
+		parsed, err := url.Parse(u)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Backend %s has an invalid url %s configured (%s), skipping", id, u, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		secret, _ := config.GetString(id, "secret")
+		if u == "" || secret == "" {
+			log.Printf("Backend %s is missing or incomplete, skipping", id)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		hosts[parsed.Host] = append(hosts[parsed.Host], &Backend{
+			id:     id,
+			url:    u,
+			secret: []byte(secret),
+		})
+	}
+
+	return hosts
+}
+
+func (b *BackendConfiguration) Reload(config *goconf.ConfigFile) {
+	if backendIds, _ := config.GetString("backend", "backends"); backendIds != "" {
+		configuredHosts := getConfiguredHosts(config)
+
+		// remove backends that are no longer configured
+		for hostname := range b.backends {
+			if _, ok := configuredHosts[hostname]; !ok {
+				b.RemoveBackend(hostname)
+			}
+		}
+
+		// rewrite backends adding newly configured ones and rewriting existing ones
+		for hostname, configuredBackends := range configuredHosts {
+			b.UpsertHost(hostname, configuredBackends)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func (b *BackendConfiguration) GetCompatBackend() *Backend {
 	return b.compatBackend
 }
diff --git a/src/signaling/backend_configuration_test.go b/src/signaling/backend_configuration_test.go
index 2aea66c..f1a16f5 100644
--- a/src/signaling/backend_configuration_test.go
+++ b/src/signaling/backend_configuration_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ package signaling
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"net/url"
+	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/dlintw/goconf"
@@ -163,3 +164,136 @@ func TestIsUrlAllowed_AllowAll(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	testUrls(t, cfg, valid_urls, invalid_urls)
 }
+
+func TestBackendReloadChangeExistingURL(t *testing.T) {
+	original_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain2.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+	o_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(original_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	new_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain3.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain2.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+	n_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(new_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	original_config.RemoveOption("backend1", "url")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain3.invalid")
+
+	o_cfg.Reload(original_config)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(n_cfg, o_cfg) {
+		t.Error("BackendConfiguration should be equal after Reload")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBackendReloadChangeSecret(t *testing.T) {
+	original_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain2.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+	o_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(original_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	new_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend3")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain2.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+	n_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(new_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	original_config.RemoveOption("backend1", "secret")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend3")
+
+	o_cfg.Reload(original_config)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(n_cfg, o_cfg) {
+		t.Error("BackendConfiguration should be equal after Reload")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBackendReloadAddBackend(t *testing.T) {
+	original_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	o_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(original_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	new_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain2.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+	n_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(new_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	original_config.RemoveOption("backend", "backends")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain2.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+
+	o_cfg.Reload(original_config)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(n_cfg, o_cfg) {
+		t.Error("BackendConfiguration should be equal after Reload")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBackendReloadRemove(t *testing.T) {
+	original_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1, backend2")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	original_config.AddOption("backend2", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend2")
+	o_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(original_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	new_config := goconf.NewConfigFile()
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "backends", "backend1")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend", "allowall", "false")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "url", "http://domain1.invalid")
+	new_config.AddOption("backend1", "secret", string(testBackendSecret)+"-backend1")
+	n_cfg, err := NewBackendConfiguration(new_config)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	original_config.RemoveSection("backend2")
+
+	o_cfg.Reload(original_config)
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(n_cfg, o_cfg) {
+		t.Error("BackendConfiguration should be equal after Reload")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/signaling/hub.go b/src/signaling/hub.go
index 93e5f10..9c960da 100644
--- a/src/signaling/hub.go
+++ b/src/signaling/hub.go
@@ -420,6 +420,7 @@ func (h *Hub) Reload(config *goconf.ConfigFile) {
 	if h.mcu != nil {
 		h.mcu.Reload(config)
 	}
+	h.backend.Reload(config)
 }
 
 func reverseSessionId(s string) (string, error) {