diff --git a/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.cc b/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.cc
index 6c1daeb95..cd81061c5 100644
--- a/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.cc
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@
 #include <iterator>
 #include <map>
 
+#include <boost/filesystem.hpp>
+
 #include "phonenumbers/default_logger.h"
 #include "phonenumbers/matcher_api.h"
-#include "phonenumbers/phonemetadata.pb.h"
 #include "phonenumbers/phonenumberutil.h"
 #include "phonenumbers/regex_based_matcher.h"
 #include "phonenumbers/region_code.h"
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ using std::string;
 
 
 #ifdef ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
+
+const string METADATA_SHORT_FILE_NAME = "metadata_short.dat";
+
 bool LoadMetadataFromFile(string fileName, PhoneMetadataCollection* metadata) {
   std::fstream input(fileName.c_str(), std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
   if (!input) {
@@ -54,9 +58,45 @@ void ShortNumberInfo::ClearMetadata(){
   regions_where_emergency_numbers_must_be_exact_->clear();
 }
 
-void ShortNumberInfo::ReloadMetadata() {
+bool UpdateShortMetadataFile(const string& filepath) {
+
+  boost::filesystem::path path_to = boost::filesystem::current_path();
+  path_to += "/";
+  path_to += METADATA_SHORT_FILE_NAME;
+  boost::filesystem::path path_bk = path_to;
+  path_bk += ".bak";
+  boost::system::error_code ec;
+
+  boost::filesystem::copy(path_to.string(), path_bk.string(), ec);
+  if (ec) {
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not create backup copy of metadata file." << ec.message();
+    return false;
+  }
+  boost::filesystem::rename(filepath, path_to.string(), ec);
+  if(ec) {
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not rename metadata file." << ec.message();
+    return false;
+  }
+  boost::filesystem::remove(path_bk, ec);
+  if(ec) {
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not remove metadata file." << ec.message();
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+bool ShortNumberInfo::ReloadMetadata(const string& filename) {
   ClearMetadata();
-  LoadMetadata();
+  PhoneMetadataCollection metadata_collection;
+  if (!LoadMetadataFromFile(filename, &metadata_collection)) {
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not parse metadata from file.";
+    return false;
+  }
+  LoadMetadataFromCollection(metadata_collection);
+  if(!UpdateShortMetadataFile(filename)){
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not update metadata file.";
+    return false;
+  }
+  return true;
 }
 #else
 bool LoadCompiledInMetadata(PhoneMetadataCollection* metadata) {
@@ -68,20 +108,7 @@ bool LoadCompiledInMetadata(PhoneMetadataCollection* metadata) {
 }
 #endif // ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
 
-void ShortNumberInfo::LoadMetadata() {
-  PhoneMetadataCollection metadata_collection;
-#ifdef ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
-  const string metadataInputFile = "metadata_short.dat";
-  if (!LoadMetadataFromFile(metadataInputFile, &metadata_collection)) {
-    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not parse metadata from file.";
-    return;
-  }
-#else
-  if (!LoadCompiledInMetadata(&metadata_collection)) {
-    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not parse compiled-in metadata.";
-    return;
-  }
-#endif // ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
+void ShortNumberInfo::LoadMetadataFromCollection(const PhoneMetadataCollection& metadata_collection) {
   for (const auto& metadata : metadata_collection.metadata()) {
     const string& region_code = metadata.id();
     region_to_short_metadata_map_->insert(std::make_pair(region_code, metadata));
@@ -96,7 +123,20 @@ ShortNumberInfo::ShortNumberInfo()
       matcher_api_(new RegexBasedMatcher()),
       region_to_short_metadata_map_(new absl::flat_hash_map<string, PhoneMetadata>()),
       regions_where_emergency_numbers_must_be_exact_(new absl::flat_hash_set<string>()) {
-  LoadMetadata();
+
+  PhoneMetadataCollection metadata_collection;
+#ifdef ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
+  if (!LoadMetadataFromFile(METADATA_SHORT_FILE_NAME, &metadata_collection)) {
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not parse metadata from file.";
+    return;
+  }
+#else
+  if (!LoadCompiledInMetadata(&metadata_collection)) {
+    LOG(DFATAL) << "Could not parse compiled-in metadata.";
+    return;
+  }
+#endif // ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
+  LoadMetadataFromCollection(metadata_collection);
 }
 
 ShortNumberInfo::~ShortNumberInfo() {}
diff --git a/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.h b/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.h
index b67858e08..2339ae827 100644
--- a/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.h
+++ b/cpp/src/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo.h
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 #include <map>
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
-
+#include "phonenumbers/phonemetadata.pb.h"
 #include "phonenumbers/base/basictypes.h"
 #include "phonenumbers/base/memory/scoped_ptr.h"
 #include "absl/container/flat_hash_set.h"
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class PhoneNumber;
 class PhoneNumberUtil;
 
 class ShortNumberInfo {
+  void LoadMetadataFromCollection(const PhoneMetadataCollection& metadata_collection);
  public:
   ShortNumberInfo();
   ~ShortNumberInfo();
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ class ShortNumberInfo {
  private:
   void ClearMetadata();
  public:
-  void ReloadMetadata();
+  bool ReloadMetadata(const string& filename);
 #endif // ISTREAM_DATA_PROVIDER
   // Cost categories of short numbers.
   enum ShortNumberCost {
diff --git a/cpp/test/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo_test.cc b/cpp/test/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo_test.cc
index 83dc4f918..ca5a504e1 100644
--- a/cpp/test/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/test/phonenumbers/shortnumberinfo_test.cc
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class ShortNumberInfoTest : public testing::Test {
   }
 
   const PhoneNumberUtil phone_util_;
-  const ShortNumberInfo short_info_;
+  ShortNumberInfo short_info_;
 
  private:
   DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(ShortNumberInfoTest);
@@ -96,6 +96,11 @@ TEST_F(ShortNumberInfoTest, IsValidShortNumber) {
   EXPECT_TRUE(short_info_.IsValidShortNumber(shared_number));
 }
 
+TEST_F(ShortNumberInfoTest, ReloadMetadata) {
+  const string filename = "metadata_short.dat";
+  EXPECT_TRUE(short_info_.ReloadMetadata(filename));
+}
+
 TEST_F(ShortNumberInfoTest, IsCarrierSpecific) {
   PhoneNumber carrier_specific_number;
   carrier_specific_number.set_country_code(1);