diff --git a/src/extensions/default/bramble/lib/RemoteCommandHandler.js b/src/extensions/default/bramble/lib/RemoteCommandHandler.js
index fecb08775ce..c99f7bc5e76 100644
--- a/src/extensions/default/bramble/lib/RemoteCommandHandler.js
+++ b/src/extensions/default/bramble/lib/RemoteCommandHandler.js
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ define(function (require, exports, module) {
 
         switch(command) {
         case "BRAMBLE_RELOAD":
+            // If JS is disabled, re-enable it just for this next reload.
+            HTMLRewriter.forceScriptsOnce();
             PostMessageTransport.reload();
             break;
         case "BRAMBLE_MOBILE_PREVIEW":
diff --git a/src/filesystem/impls/filer/lib/HTMLRewriter.js b/src/filesystem/impls/filer/lib/HTMLRewriter.js
index 3c61992ba51..8784401ab03 100644
--- a/src/filesystem/impls/filer/lib/HTMLRewriter.js
+++ b/src/filesystem/impls/filer/lib/HTMLRewriter.js
@@ -16,6 +16,13 @@ define(function (require, exports, module) {
      */
     var jsEnabled = true;
 
+    /**
+     * Provides a way to force JS to run when disabled, but only once.
+     * Useful when we want to allow the user to manually refresh the page with UI
+     * vs. when we do it automatically.
+     */
+    var jsEnabledOverride = false;
+
     /**
      * Rewrite all external resources (links, scripts, img sources, ...) to
      * blob URL Objects from the fs.
@@ -133,7 +140,7 @@ define(function (require, exports, module) {
                 return;
             }
 
-            if(jsEnabled) {
+            if(jsEnabled || jsEnabledOverride) {
                 if(element.getAttribute("type") === "text/x-scripts-disabled") {
                     element.removeAttribute("type");
                 }
@@ -202,6 +209,9 @@ define(function (require, exports, module) {
                 doctype = (new XMLSerializer()).serializeToString(doc.doctype);
             }
 
+            // Reset the JS scripts override in case it was set on this run
+            jsEnabledOverride = false;
+
             callback(err, doctype + html);
         });
     }
@@ -213,4 +223,7 @@ define(function (require, exports, module) {
     exports.disableScripts = function() {
         jsEnabled = false;
     };
+    exports.forceScriptsOnce = function() {
+        jsEnabledOverride = true;
+    };
 });