diff --git a/src/source/geojson_source.js b/src/source/geojson_source.js
index 6eaa669e9a8..2bc3a41082e 100644
--- a/src/source/geojson_source.js
+++ b/src/source/geojson_source.js
@@ -180,7 +180,13 @@ class GeoJSONSource extends Evented {
             showCollisionBoxes: this.map.showCollisionBoxes
         };
 
-        tile.workerID = this.dispatcher.send('loadTile', params, (err, data) => {
+        if (!tile.workerID || tile.state === 'expired') {
+            tile.workerID = this.dispatcher.send('loadTile', params, done.bind(this), this.workerID);
+        } else {
+            tile.workerID = this.dispatcher.send('reloadTile', params, done.bind(this), this.workerID);
+        }
+
+        function done(err, data) {
 
             tile.unloadVectorData();
 
@@ -199,8 +205,7 @@ class GeoJSONSource extends Evented {
             }
 
             return callback(null);
-
-        }, this.workerID);
+        }
     }
 
     abortTile(tile) {
diff --git a/src/source/geojson_worker_source.js b/src/source/geojson_worker_source.js
index 3a76200c6a4..3a54de36701 100644
--- a/src/source/geojson_worker_source.js
+++ b/src/source/geojson_worker_source.js
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ class GeoJSONWorkerSource extends VectorTileWorkerSource {
             this._indexData(data, params, (err, indexed) => {
                 if (err) { return callback(err); }
                 this._geoJSONIndexes[params.source] = indexed;
+                this.loaded[params.source] = {};
                 callback(null);
             });
         }.bind(this);
@@ -90,6 +91,27 @@ class GeoJSONWorkerSource extends VectorTileWorkerSource {
         this.loadGeoJSON(params, handleData);
     }
 
+    /**
+    * Implements {@link WorkerSource#reloadTile}.
+    *
+    * If the tile is loaded, uses the implementation in VectorTileWorkerSource.
+    * Otherwise, such as after a setData() call, we load the tile fresh.
+    *
+    * @param {Object} params
+    * @param {string} params.source The id of the source for which we're loading this tile.
+    * @param {string} params.uid The UID for this tile.
+    */
+    reloadTile(params, callback) {
+        const loaded = this.loaded[params.source],
+            uid = params.uid;
+
+        if (loaded && loaded[uid]) {
+            return super.reloadTile(params, callback);
+        } else {
+            return this.loadTile(params, callback);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Fetch and parse GeoJSON according to the given params.  Calls `callback`
      * with `(err, data)`, where `data` is a parsed GeoJSON object.
diff --git a/test/unit/source/geojson_worker_source.test.js b/test/unit/source/geojson_worker_source.test.js
index 7b9e17ef224..e5ac51d62cb 100644
--- a/test/unit/source/geojson_worker_source.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/source/geojson_worker_source.test.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 const test = require('mapbox-gl-js-test').test;
 const GeoJSONWorkerSource = require('../../../src/source/geojson_worker_source');
 const StyleLayerIndex = require('../../../src/style/style_layer_index');
+const TileCoord = require('../../../src/source/tile_coord');
 
 test('removeSource', (t) => {
     t.test('removes the source from _geoJSONIndexes', (t) => {
@@ -48,3 +49,82 @@ test('removeSource', (t) => {
 
     t.end();
 });
+
+test('reloadTile', (t) => {
+    t.test('does not rebuild vector data unless data has changed', (t) => {
+        const layers = [
+            {
+                id: 'mylayer',
+                source: 'sourceId',
+                type: 'symbol',
+            }
+        ];
+        const layerIndex = new StyleLayerIndex(layers);
+        const source = new GeoJSONWorkerSource(null, layerIndex);
+        const originalLoadVectorData = source.loadVectorData;
+        let loadVectorCallCount = 0;
+        source.loadVectorData = function(params, callback) {
+            loadVectorCallCount++;
+            return originalLoadVectorData.call(this, params, callback);
+        };
+        const geoJson = {
+            "type": "Feature",
+            "geometry": {
+                "type": "Point",
+                "coordinates": [0, 0]
+            }
+        };
+        const tileParams = {
+            source: 'sourceId',
+            uid: 0,
+            coord: new TileCoord(0, 0, 0),
+            maxZoom: 10
+        };
+
+        function addData(callback) {
+            source.loadData({ source: 'sourceId', data: JSON.stringify(geoJson) }, (err) => {
+                t.equal(err, null);
+                callback();
+            });
+        }
+
+        function reloadTile(callback) {
+            source.reloadTile(tileParams, (err, data) => {
+                t.equal(err, null);
+                return callback(data);
+            });
+        }
+
+        addData(() => {
+            // first call should load vector data from geojson
+            let firstData;
+            reloadTile(data => {
+                firstData = data;
+            });
+            t.equal(loadVectorCallCount, 1);
+
+            // second call won't give us new rawTileData
+            reloadTile(data => {
+                t.notOk('rawTileData' in data);
+                data.rawTileData = firstData.rawTileData;
+                t.deepEqual(data, firstData);
+            });
+
+            // also shouldn't call loadVectorData again
+            t.equal(loadVectorCallCount, 1);
+
+            // replace geojson data
+            addData(() => {
+                // should call loadVectorData again after changing geojson data
+                reloadTile(data => {
+                    t.ok('rawTileData' in data);
+                    t.deepEqual(data, firstData);
+                });
+                t.equal(loadVectorCallCount, 2);
+                t.end();
+            });
+        });
+    });
+
+    t.end();
+});