diff --git a/data/dbus-interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Extensions.xml b/data/dbus-interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Extensions.xml
index 34a65af..ce69439 100644
--- a/data/dbus-interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Extensions.xml
+++ b/data/dbus-interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Extensions.xml
@@ -189,6 +189,19 @@
     -->
     <method name="CheckForUpdates"/>
 
+    <!--
+       LoadUserExtension:
+       @uuid: The UUID of the extension
+       @success: Whether the operation was successful
+
+       Load a newly installed user extension
+    -->
+
+    <method name="LoadUserExtension">
+        <arg type="s" direction="in" name="uuid"/>
+        <arg type="b" direction="out" name="success"/>
+    </method>
+
     <signal name="ExtensionStatusChanged">
       <arg type="s" name="uuid"/>
       <arg type="i" name="state"/>
diff --git a/js/ui/shellDBus.js b/js/ui/shellDBus.js
index 19d07ac..112d60f 100644
--- a/js/ui/shellDBus.js
+++ b/js/ui/shellDBus.js
@@ -341,6 +341,22 @@ var GnomeShellExtensions = class {
         ExtensionDownloader.checkForUpdates();
     }
 
+    LoadUserExtension(uuid) {
+        let extension = ExtensionUtils.extensions[uuid];
+        if (extension)
+            return true;
+
+        let dir = Gio.File.new_for_path(GLib.build_filenamev([global.userdatadir, 'extensions', uuid]));
+        try {
+            extension = ExtensionUtils.createExtensionObject(uuid, dir, ExtensionUtils.ExtensionType.PER_USER);
+            ExtensionSystem.loadExtension(extension);
+        } catch (e) {
+            log('Could not load user extension from %s'.format(dir.get_path()));
+            return false;
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+
     get ShellVersion() {
         return Config.PACKAGE_VERSION;
     }