diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index 292b599335..73b5f7c3c0 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -63,9 +63,7 @@ if (nconf.get('config')) {
 }
 configExists = fs.existsSync(configFile);
 
-if (!nconf.get('setup') && !nconf.get('install') && !nconf.get('upgrade') && !nconf.get('reset') && configExists) {
-	start();
-} else if (nconf.get('setup') || nconf.get('install')) {
+if (nconf.get('setup') || nconf.get('install')) {
 	setup();
 } else if (!configExists) {
 	require('./install/web').install(nconf.get('port'));
@@ -73,6 +71,10 @@ if (!nconf.get('setup') && !nconf.get('install') && !nconf.get('upgrade') && !nc
 	upgrade();
 } else if (nconf.get('reset')) {
 	reset();
+} else if (nconf.get('activate')) {
+	activate();
+} else {
+	start();
 }
 
 function loadConfig() {
@@ -280,6 +282,17 @@ function upgrade() {
 	});
 }
 
+function activate() {
+	loadConfig();
+
+	require('./src/database').init(function(err) {
+		var plugin = nconf.get('activate'),
+			db = require('./src/database');
+
+		db.sortedSetAdd('plugins:active', plugin, 1, start);
+	});
+}
+
 function reset() {
 	loadConfig();
 
diff --git a/nodebb b/nodebb
index d19833d010..4a94680fc3 100755
--- a/nodebb
+++ b/nodebb
@@ -115,6 +115,16 @@ switch(process.argv[2]) {
 		});
 		break;
 
+	case 'activate':
+		var args = process.argv.slice(0);
+			args.unshift('--activate');
+
+			cproc.fork('app.js', args, {
+				cwd: __dirname,
+				silent: false
+			});
+			break;
+
 	case 'upgrade':
 		async.series([
 			function(next) {