diff --git a/src/Application.php b/src/Application.php
index 3b56375b1..daca613b0 100644
--- a/src/Application.php
+++ b/src/Application.php
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ public function __construct($name, $version)
             ->addOption(
                 new InputOption('--define', '-D', InputOption::VALUE_REQUIRED | InputOption::VALUE_IS_ARRAY, 'Define a configuration item value.', [])
             );
+
+        $selfUpdateCommand = new SelfUpdateCommand('self:update');
+        $this->add($selfUpdateCommand);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/SelfUpdateCommand.php b/src/SelfUpdateCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4966e91ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SelfUpdateCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Robo;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Filesystem\Filesystem as sfFilesystem;
+
+/**
+ * Update the robo.phar from the latest github release
+ *
+ * @author Alexander Menk <alex.menk@gmail.com>
+ */
+class SelfUpdateCommand extends Command
+{
+    private $command;
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritdoc}
+     */
+    protected function configure()
+    {
+        $this
+            ->setName('self-update')
+            ->setAliases(array( 'selfupdate' ))
+            ->setDescription('Updates the robo.phar to the latest version.')
+            ->setHelp(
+                <<<EOT
+The <info>self-update</info> command checks github for newer
+versions of robo and if found, installs the latest.
+EOT
+            );
+    }
+
+    protected function getLatestReleaseFromGithub($repository)
+    {
+        $opts = [
+            'http' => [
+                'method' => 'GET',
+                'header' => [
+                    'User-Agent: PHP'
+                ]
+            ]
+        ];
+
+        $context = stream_context_create($opts);
+
+        $releases = file_get_contents('https://api.github.com/repos/' . $repository . '/releases', false, $context);
+        $releases = json_decode($releases);
+
+        if (! isset($releases[0])) {
+            throw new \Exception('API error - no release found at GitHub repository ' . $repository);
+        }
+
+        $version = $releases[0]->tag_name;
+        $url     = $releases[0]->assets[0]->browser_download_url;
+
+        return [ $version, $url ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritdoc}
+     */
+    protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
+    {
+        $localFilename = realpath($_SERVER['argv'][0]) ?: $_SERVER['argv'][0];
+        $programName   = basename($localFilename);
+        $tempFilename  = dirname($localFilename) . '/' . basename($localFilename, '.phar') . '-temp.phar';
+
+        // check for permissions in local filesystem before start connection process
+        if (! is_writable($tempDirectory = dirname($tempFilename))) {
+            throw new \Exception(
+                $programName . ' update failed: the "' . $tempDirectory .
+                '" directory used to download the temp file could not be written'
+            );
+        }
+
+        if (! is_writable($localFilename)) {
+            throw new \Exception(
+                $programName . ' update failed: the "' . $localFilename . '" file could not be written'
+            );
+        }
+
+        list( $latest, $downloadUrl ) = $this->getLatestReleaseFromGithub('consolidation/robo');
+
+
+        if (Robo::VERSION == $latest) {
+            $output->writeln('No update available');
+        }
+
+        $fs = new sfFilesystem();
+
+        $output->writeln('Downloading ' . Robo::APPLICATION_NAME . ' ' . $latest);
+
+        $fs->copy($downloadUrl, $tempFilename);
+
+        $output->writeln('Download finished');
+
+        try {
+            \error_reporting(E_ALL); // supress notices
+
+            @chmod($tempFilename, 0777 & ~umask());
+            // test the phar validity
+            $phar = new \Phar($tempFilename);
+            // free the variable to unlock the file
+            unset($phar);
+            @rename($tempFilename, $localFilename);
+            $output->writeln('<info>Successfully updated ' . $programName . '</info>');
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            @unlink($tempFilename);
+            if (! $e instanceof \UnexpectedValueException && ! $e instanceof \PharException) {
+                throw $e;
+            }
+            $output->writeln('<error>The download is corrupted (' . $e->getMessage() . ').</error>');
+            $output->writeln('<error>Please re-run the self-update command to try again.</error>');
+        }
+    }
+}