diff --git a/src/gui/application.cpp b/src/gui/application.cpp
index 34eb533b6..3a777feb0 100644
--- a/src/gui/application.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/application.cpp
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ Application::Application(int &argc, char **argv) :
     _gui(0),
     _theme(Theme::instance()),
     _helpOnly(false),
+    _versionOnly(false),
     _showLogWindow(false),
     _logExpire(0),
     _logFlush(false),
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ Application::Application(int &argc, char **argv) :
 #endif
     parseOptions(arguments());
     //no need to waste time;
-    if ( _helpOnly ) return;
+    if ( _helpOnly || _versionOnly ) return;
 
     if (isRunning())
         return;
@@ -174,6 +175,11 @@ Application::Application(int &argc, char **argv) :
     // Cleanup at Quit.
     connect (this, SIGNAL(aboutToQuit()), SLOT(slotCleanup()));
 
+    // remember the version of the currently running binary. On Linux it might happen that the
+    // package management updates the package while the app is running. This is detected in the
+    // updater slot: If the installed binary on the hd has a different version than the one
+    // running, the running app is restart. That happens in folderman.
+    _runningAppVersion = Utility::versionOfInstalledBinary();
 }
 
 Application::~Application()
@@ -211,6 +217,16 @@ void Application::slotCleanup()
     _gui->deleteLater();
 }
 
+
+    if( Utility::isLinux() ) {
+        // on linux, check if the installed binary is still the same version
+        // as the one that is running. If not, restart if possible.
+        const QByteArray fsVersion = Utility::versionOfInstalledBinary();
+
+        if( !(fsVersion.isEmpty() || _runningAppVersion.isEmpty()) && fsVersion != _runningAppVersion ) {
+            _folderManager->slotScheduleAppRestart();
+        }
+    }
 void Application::slotCheckConnection()
 {
     auto list = AccountManager::instance()->accounts();
@@ -339,6 +355,8 @@ void Application::parseOptions(const QStringList &options)
             }
         } else if (option == QLatin1String("--debug")) {
             _debugMode = true;
+        } else if (option == QLatin1String("--version")) {
+            _versionOnly = true;
         } else {
             showHint("Unrecognized option '" + option.toStdString() + "'");
         }
@@ -389,6 +407,17 @@ void Application::showHelp()
     displayHelpText(helpText);
 }
 
+void Application::showVersion()
+{
+    QString helpText;
+    QTextStream stream(&helpText);
+    stream << _theme->appName().toLatin1().constData()
+           << QLatin1String(" version ")
+           << _theme->version().toLatin1().constData() << endl;
+
+    displayHelpText(helpText);
+}
+
 void Application::showHint(std::string errorHint)
 {
     static QString binName = QFileInfo(QCoreApplication::applicationFilePath()).fileName();
@@ -485,6 +514,11 @@ bool Application::giveHelp()
     return _helpOnly;
 }
 
+bool Application::versionOnly()
+{
+    return _versionOnly;
+}
+
 void Application::showSettingsDialog()
 {
     _gui->slotShowSettings();
diff --git a/src/gui/application.h b/src/gui/application.h
index aa6406428..b09895c4f 100644
--- a/src/gui/application.h
+++ b/src/gui/application.h
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ public:
     void showHelp();
     void showHint(std::string errorHint);
     bool debugMode();
+    bool versionOnly(); // only display the version?
+    void showVersion();
 
     void showSettingsDialog();
 
@@ -93,6 +95,7 @@ private:
     Theme *_theme;
 
     bool _helpOnly;
+    bool _versionOnly;
 
     // options from command line:
     bool _showLogWindow;
@@ -102,6 +105,7 @@ private:
     bool    _logFlush;
     bool    _userTriggeredConnect;
     bool    _debugMode;
+    QByteArray _runningAppVersion;
 
     ClientProxy _proxy;
 
diff --git a/src/gui/folderman.cpp b/src/gui/folderman.cpp
index 193819cc4..d57c0ccd3 100644
--- a/src/gui/folderman.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/folderman.cpp
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ static qint64 msBetweenRequestAndSync = 2000;
 FolderMan::FolderMan(QObject *parent) :
     QObject(parent),
     _currentSyncFolder(0),
-    _syncEnabled( true )
+    _syncEnabled( true ),
+    _appRestartRequired(false)
 {
     Q_ASSERT(!_instance);
     _instance = this;
@@ -473,6 +474,12 @@ void FolderMan::slotScheduleAllFolders()
     }
 }
 
+void FolderMan::slotScheduleAppRestart()
+{
+    _appRestartRequired = true;
+    qDebug() << "## Application restart requested!";
+}
+
 /*
   * if a folder wants to be synced, it calls this slot and is added
   * to the queue. The slot to actually start a sync is called afterwards.
@@ -540,6 +547,11 @@ void FolderMan::slotRunOneEtagJob()
         }
         if (_currentEtagJob.isNull()) {
             qDebug() << "No more remote ETag check jobs to schedule.";
+
+            /* now it might be a good time to check for restarting... */
+            if( _currentSyncFolder == NULL && _appRestartRequired ) {
+                restartApplication();
+            }
         } else {
             qDebug() << "Scheduling" << alias << "to check remote ETag";
             _currentEtagJob->start(); // on destroy/end it will continue the queue via slotEtagJobDestroyed
@@ -1164,5 +1176,19 @@ QString FolderMan::checkPathValidityForNewFolder(const QString& path, bool forNe
 
 }
 
+void FolderMan::restartApplication()
+{
+    if( Utility::isLinux() ) {
+        // restart:
+        qDebug() << "### Restarting application NOW, PID" << qApp->applicationPid() << "is ending.";
+        qApp->quit();
+        QStringList args = qApp->arguments();
+        QString prg = args.takeFirst();
+
+        QProcess::startDetached(prg, args);
+    } else {
+        qDebug() << "On this platform we do not restart.";
+    }
+}
 
 } // namespace OCC
diff --git a/src/gui/folderman.h b/src/gui/folderman.h
index e1ca9f97c..167b82f5f 100644
--- a/src/gui/folderman.h
+++ b/src/gui/folderman.h
@@ -148,6 +148,11 @@ public slots:
      */
     void slotAccountStateChanged();
 
+    /**
+     * restart the client as soon as it is possible, ie. no folders syncing.
+     */
+    void slotScheduleAppRestart();
+
 private slots:
     // slot to take the next folder from queue and start syncing.
     void slotStartScheduledFolderSync();
@@ -176,6 +181,9 @@ private:
     QString getBackupName( QString fullPathName ) const;
     void registerFolderMonitor( Folder *folder );
 
+    // restarts the application (Linux only)
+    void restartApplication();
+
     QString unescapeAlias( const QString& ) const;
 
     QSet<Folder*>  _disabledFolders;
@@ -196,6 +204,8 @@ private:
     /** When the timer expires one of the scheduled syncs will be started. */
     QTimer          _startScheduledSyncTimer;
 
+    bool            _appRestartRequired;
+
     static FolderMan *_instance;
     explicit FolderMan(QObject *parent = 0);
     friend class OCC::Application;
diff --git a/src/gui/main.cpp b/src/gui/main.cpp
index c1f13fe8e..49cd4af40 100644
--- a/src/gui/main.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/main.cpp
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         app.showHelp();
         return 0;
     }
+    if( app.versionOnly() ) {
+        app.showVersion();
+        return 0;
+    }
 
     // check a environment variable for core dumps
 #ifdef Q_OS_UNIX
diff --git a/src/libsync/utility.cpp b/src/libsync/utility.cpp
index bd818ceb6..91963071b 100644
--- a/src/libsync/utility.cpp
+++ b/src/libsync/utility.cpp
@@ -393,6 +393,35 @@ void Utility::crash()
     *a = 1;
 }
 
+// read the output of the owncloud --version command from the owncloud
+// version that is on disk. This works for most versions of the client,
+// because clients that do not yet know the --version flag return the
+// version in the first line of the help output :-)
+//
+// This version only delivers output on linux, as Mac and Win get their
+// restarting from the installer.
+QByteArray Utility::versionOfInstalledBinary( const QString& command )
+{
+    QByteArray re;
+    if( isLinux() ) {
+        QString binary(command);
+        if( binary.isEmpty() ) {
+            binary = qApp->arguments()[0];
+        }
+        QStringList params;
+        params << QLatin1String("--version");
+        QProcess process;
+        process.start(binary, params);
+        process.waitForFinished(); // sets current thread to sleep and waits for pingProcess end
+        re = process.readAllStandardOutput();
+        int newline = re.indexOf(QChar('\n'));
+        if( newline > 0 ) {
+            re.truncate( newline );
+        }
+    }
+    return re;
+}
+
 static const char STOPWATCH_END_TAG[] = "_STOPWATCH_END";
 
 void Utility::StopWatch::start()
diff --git a/src/libsync/utility.h b/src/libsync/utility.h
index 957f5e215..40e7961cd 100644
--- a/src/libsync/utility.h
+++ b/src/libsync/utility.h
@@ -98,6 +98,13 @@ namespace Utility
     // if false, the two cases are two different files.
     OWNCLOUDSYNC_EXPORT bool fsCasePreserving();
 
+    // Call the given command with the switch --version and retrun the first line
+    // of the output.
+    // If command is empty, the function calls the running application which, on
+    // Linux, might have changed while this one is running.
+    // For Mac and Windows, it returns QString()
+    OWNCLOUDSYNC_EXPORT QByteArray versionOfInstalledBinary(const QString& command = QString() );
+
     class OWNCLOUDSYNC_EXPORT StopWatch {
     private:
         QHash<QString, quint64> _lapTimes;
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 5d817b42c..9a1cb2fd7 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ if( UNIX AND NOT APPLE )
     owncloud_add_test(InotifyWatcher "${FolderWatcher_SRC}")
 endif(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
 
+configure_file(oc_bin.h.in oc_bin.h)
+
 owncloud_add_test(CSyncSqlite "")
 owncloud_add_test(NetrcParser ../src/cmd/netrcparser.cpp)
 owncloud_add_test(OwnSql "")
diff --git a/test/oc_bin.h.in b/test/oc_bin.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4af6176ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/oc_bin.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+#define OWNCLOUD_BIN "@CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@/bin/owncloud"
+
diff --git a/test/testutility.h b/test/testutility.h
index 16b12499c..db3045d92 100644
--- a/test/testutility.h
+++ b/test/testutility.h
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 #include "utility.h"
 
+#include "oc_bin.h"
+
 using namespace OCC::Utility;
 
 class TestUtility : public QObject
@@ -100,6 +102,20 @@ private slots:
 
 
     }
+
+    void testVersionOfInstalledBinary()
+    {
+	if( isLinux() ) {
+            QString ver = versionOfInstalledBinary(OWNCLOUD_BIN);
+	    qDebug() << "Version of installed ownCloud Binary: " << ver;
+	    QVERIFY( !ver.isEmpty());
+
+	    QRegExp rx( "ownCloud version \\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+.+" );
+            QVERIFY( rx.exactMatch(ver));
+	} else {
+	    QVERIFY( versionOfInstalledBinary().isEmpty());
+	}
+    }
 };
 
 #endif