diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a78e666ee779..50e3f7c77d44 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -216,8 +216,6 @@ collectstatic:
 	fi; \
 	$(PYTHON) manage.py collectstatic --clear --noinput > /dev/null 2>&1
 
-DEV_RELOAD_COMMAND ?= supervisorctl restart tower-processes:*
-
 uwsgi: collectstatic
 	@if [ "$(VENV_BASE)" ]; then \
 		. $(VENV_BASE)/awx/bin/activate; \
@@ -225,7 +223,7 @@ uwsgi: collectstatic
 	uwsgi /etc/tower/uwsgi.ini
 
 awx-autoreload:
-	@/awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx "$(DEV_RELOAD_COMMAND)"
+	@/awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx
 
 daphne:
 	@if [ "$(VENV_BASE)" ]; then \
diff --git a/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_rsyslog.conf.j2 b/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_rsyslog.conf.j2
index 8d8501ea6569..e516c208e311 100644
--- a/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_rsyslog.conf.j2
+++ b/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_rsyslog.conf.j2
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ stderr_logfile_maxbytes=0
 
 {% if kube_dev | bool %}
 [program:awx-autoreload]
-command = /awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx 'supervisorctl -c /etc/supervisord_rsyslog.conf restart tower-processes:*'
+command = /awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx
 autostart = true
 autorestart = true
 stopasgroup=true
diff --git a/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_task.conf.j2 b/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_task.conf.j2
index bce0a8752a02..90b6313635b2 100644
--- a/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_task.conf.j2
+++ b/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_task.conf.j2
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ stderr_logfile_maxbytes=0
 
 {% if kube_dev | bool %}
 [program:awx-autoreload]
-command = /awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx 'supervisorctl -c /etc/supervisord_task.conf restart tower-processes:*'
+command = /awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx
 autostart = true
 autorestart = true
 stopasgroup=true
diff --git a/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_web.conf.j2 b/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_web.conf.j2
index 6112b6abdafe..d156b97dfad9 100644
--- a/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_web.conf.j2
+++ b/tools/ansible/roles/dockerfile/templates/supervisor_web.conf.j2
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ stderr_logfile_maxbytes=0
 
 {% if kube_dev | bool %}
 [program:awx-autoreload]
-command = /awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx 'supervisorctl -c /etc/supervisord_web.conf restart tower-processes:*'
+command = /awx_devel/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload /awx_devel/awx
 autostart = true
 autorestart = true
 stopasgroup=true
diff --git a/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload b/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload
index 0f6f0b8f9df1..08abf6eccae8 100755
--- a/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload
+++ b/tools/docker-compose/awx-autoreload
@@ -13,8 +13,10 @@ inotifywait -mrq -e create,delete,attrib,close_write,move --exclude '(/awx_devel
    since_last=$((this_reload-last_reload))
    if [[ "$file" =~ ^[^.].*\.py$ ]] && [[ "$since_last" -gt 1 ]]; then
       echo "File changed: $file"
-      echo "Running command: $2"
-      eval $2
+      # if any process is explicitly stopped, don't restart it
+      if [ -n "$SUPERVISOR_CONFIG_PATH" ]; then
+          supervisorctl -c $SUPERVISOR_CONFIG_PATH restart `supervisorctl -c $SUPERVISOR_CONFIG_PATH status tower-processes:* | grep -v STOPPED | awk '{print $1}'`
+      fi
       last_reload=`date +%s`
    fi
 done