diff --git a/fdroid b/fdroid
index acb80049..75538aad 100755
--- a/fdroid
+++ b/fdroid
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ commands = [
         "verify",
         "checkupdates",
         "import",
+        "readmeta",
         "rewritemeta",
         "lint",
         "scanner",
diff --git a/fdroidserver/install.py b/fdroidserver/install.py
index 632a4f91..ebdae6b7 100644
--- a/fdroidserver/install.py
+++ b/fdroidserver/install.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python2
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 #
-# verify.py - part of the FDroid server tools
+# install.py - part of the FDroid server tools
 # Copyright (C) 2013, Ciaran Gultnieks, ciaran@ciarang.com
 # Copyright (C) 2013-2014 Daniel Martí <mvdan@mvdan.cc>
 #
diff --git a/fdroidserver/metadata.py b/fdroidserver/metadata.py
index 3bc55c9b..168113f4 100644
--- a/fdroidserver/metadata.py
+++ b/fdroidserver/metadata.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 #
-# common.py - part of the FDroid server tools
+# metadata.py - part of the FDroid server tools
 # Copyright (C) 2013, Ciaran Gultnieks, ciaran@ciarang.com
 # Copyright (C) 2013-2014 Daniel Martí <mvdan@mvdan.cc>
 #
@@ -361,11 +361,13 @@ def parse_srclib(metafile, **kw):
 
 # Read all metadata. Returns a list of 'app' objects (which are dictionaries as
 # returned by the parse_metadata function.
-def read_metadata(xref=True, package=None):
+def read_metadata(xref=True, package=None, store=True):
     apps = []
+
     for basedir in ('metadata', 'tmp'):
         if not os.path.exists(basedir):
             os.makedirs(basedir)
+
     for metafile in sorted(glob.glob(os.path.join('metadata', '*.txt'))):
         if package is None or metafile == os.path.join('metadata', package + '.txt'):
             try:
diff --git a/fdroidserver/readmeta.py b/fdroidserver/readmeta.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e9665130
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fdroidserver/readmeta.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python2
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# readmeta.py - part of the FDroid server tools
+# Copyright (C) 2014 Daniel Martí <mvdan@mvdan.cc>
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import os, metadata
+
+def main():
+
+    if not os.path.isdir('metadata'):
+        return
+
+    metadata.read_metadata(xref=False, store=False)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
+