diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 43d4ae6..fc2c2ae 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,8 +18,7 @@ Here's [a blog post explaining it](https://60devs.com/hot-reloading-for-chrome-e
 2. Put the following into your `manifest.json` file:
 
 ```json
-    "background": { "scripts": ["hot-reload.js"] },
-    "permissions": ["http://*/*", "https://*/*"],
+    "background": { "scripts": ["hot-reload.js"] }
 ```
 
 Also, you can simply clone this repository and use it as a boilerplate for your extension.
diff --git a/hot-reload.js b/hot-reload.js
index 6eb9594..7183886 100644
--- a/hot-reload.js
+++ b/hot-reload.js
@@ -14,30 +14,12 @@ const timestampForFilesInDirectory = dir =>
         filesInDirectory (dir).then (files =>
             files.map (f => f.name + f.lastModifiedDate).join ())
 
-const reload = () => {
-    chrome.permissions.contains ({
-        origins: ["http://*/*", "https://*/*"]
-    }, granted => {
-        if (granted) {
-            chrome.tabs.query ({ active: true, lastFocusedWindow: true }, tabs => { // NB: see https://github.com/xpl/crx-hotreload/issues/5
-                if (tabs[0]) {
-                    chrome.tabs.executeScript (tabs[0].id, { code: 'setTimeout(() => { location.reload() }, 300)' }, () => {})
-                    chrome.runtime.reload ()
-                }
-            })
-        } else {
-            alert ('Unable to reload the active tab — please add "http://*/*" and "https://*/*" permissions to manifest.json!')
-            chrome.runtime.reload ()
-        }
-    })
-}
-
 const watchChanges = (dir, lastTimestamp) => {
     timestampForFilesInDirectory (dir).then (timestamp => {
         if (!lastTimestamp || (lastTimestamp === timestamp)) {
             setTimeout (() => watchChanges (dir, timestamp), 1000) // retry after 1s
         } else {
-            reload ()
+            chrome.runtime.reload ()
         }
     })
 }
@@ -45,5 +27,10 @@ const watchChanges = (dir, lastTimestamp) => {
 chrome.management.getSelf (self => {
     if (self.installType === 'development') {
         chrome.runtime.getPackageDirectoryEntry (dir => watchChanges (dir))
+        chrome.tabs.query ({ active: true, lastFocusedWindow: true }, tabs => { // NB: see https://github.com/xpl/crx-hotreload/issues/5
+            if (tabs[0]) {
+                chrome.tabs.reload (tabs[0].id)
+            }
+        })
     }
 })
diff --git a/manifest.json b/manifest.json
index f050a22..31e2bda 100644
--- a/manifest.json
+++ b/manifest.json
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
     "description": "An example extension which demonstrates hot-reloading",
     "version":     "1.1337.0",
 
-    "permissions": ["http://*/*", "https://*/*"],
-
     "background": {
         "scripts": ["hot-reload.js"]
     }