diff --git a/cmd/litestream/main.go b/cmd/litestream/main.go
index f3bd985..d186f61 100644
--- a/cmd/litestream/main.go
+++ b/cmd/litestream/main.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
-	"os/signal"
 	"os/user"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -87,24 +86,40 @@ func (m *Main) Run(ctx context.Context, args []string) (err error) {
 
 		// Setup signal handler.
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(ctx)
-		ch := signalChan()
-		go func() { <-ch; cancel() }()
+		signalCh := signalChan()
 
 		if err := c.Run(ctx); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
 		// Wait for signal to stop program.
-		<-ctx.Done()
-		signal.Reset()
-		fmt.Println("signal received, litestream shutting down")
+		select {
+		case err = <-c.execCh:
+			cancel()
+			fmt.Println("subprocess exited, litestream shutting down")
+		case sig := <-signalCh:
+			cancel()
+			fmt.Println("signal received, litestream shutting down")
+
+			if c.cmd != nil {
+				fmt.Println("sending signal to exec process")
+				if err := c.cmd.Process.Signal(sig); err != nil {
+					return fmt.Errorf("cannot signal exec process: %w", err)
+				}
+
+				fmt.Println("waiting for exec process to close")
+				if err := <-c.execCh; err != nil && !strings.HasPrefix(err.Error(), "signal:") {
+					return fmt.Errorf("cannot wait for exec process: %w", err)
+				}
+			}
+		}
 
 		// Gracefully close.
-		if err := c.Close(); err != nil {
-			return err
+		if e := c.Close(); e != nil && err == nil {
+			err = e
 		}
 		fmt.Println("litestream shut down")
-		return nil
+		return err
 
 	case "restore":
 		return (&RestoreCommand{}).Run(ctx, args)
@@ -152,6 +167,10 @@ type Config struct {
 	// List of databases to manage.
 	DBs []*DBConfig `yaml:"dbs"`
 
+	// Subcommand to execute during replication.
+	// Litestream will shutdown when subcommand exits.
+	Exec string `yaml:"exec"`
+
 	// Global S3 settings
 	AccessKeyID     string `yaml:"access-key-id"`
 	SecretAccessKey string `yaml:"secret-access-key"`
diff --git a/cmd/litestream/main_notwindows.go b/cmd/litestream/main_notwindows.go
index c7713c0..aaf87a1 100644
--- a/cmd/litestream/main_notwindows.go
+++ b/cmd/litestream/main_notwindows.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func runWindowsService(ctx context.Context) error {
 }
 
 func signalChan() <-chan os.Signal {
-	ch := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	ch := make(chan os.Signal, 2)
 	signal.Notify(ch, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
 	return ch
 }
diff --git a/cmd/litestream/replicate.go b/cmd/litestream/replicate.go
index 0dcdfe5..d0dea3e 100644
--- a/cmd/litestream/replicate.go
+++ b/cmd/litestream/replicate.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	_ "net/http/pprof"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 
 	"github.com/benbjohnson/litestream"
 	"github.com/benbjohnson/litestream/abs"
@@ -16,11 +17,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/benbjohnson/litestream/gcs"
 	"github.com/benbjohnson/litestream/s3"
 	"github.com/benbjohnson/litestream/sftp"
+	"github.com/mattn/go-shellwords"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promhttp"
 )
 
 // ReplicateCommand represents a command that continuously replicates SQLite databases.
 type ReplicateCommand struct {
+	cmd    *exec.Cmd  // subcommand
+	execCh chan error // subcommand error channel
+
 	Config Config
 
 	// List of managed databases specified in the config.
@@ -28,12 +33,15 @@ type ReplicateCommand struct {
 }
 
 func NewReplicateCommand() *ReplicateCommand {
-	return &ReplicateCommand{}
+	return &ReplicateCommand{
+		execCh: make(chan error),
+	}
 }
 
 // ParseFlags parses the CLI flags and loads the configuration file.
 func (c *ReplicateCommand) ParseFlags(ctx context.Context, args []string) (err error) {
 	fs := flag.NewFlagSet("litestream-replicate", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	execFlag := fs.String("exec", "", "execute subcommand")
 	tracePath := fs.String("trace", "", "trace path")
 	configPath, noExpandEnv := registerConfigFlag(fs)
 	fs.Usage = c.Usage
@@ -67,6 +75,11 @@ func (c *ReplicateCommand) ParseFlags(ctx context.Context, args []string) (err e
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Override config exec command, if specified.
+	if *execFlag != "" {
+		c.Config.Exec = *execFlag
+	}
+
 	// Enable trace logging.
 	if *tracePath != "" {
 		f, err := os.Create(*tracePath)
@@ -85,6 +98,7 @@ func (c *ReplicateCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	// Display version information.
 	log.Printf("litestream %s", Version)
 
+	// Setup databases.
 	if len(c.Config.DBs) == 0 {
 		log.Println("no databases specified in configuration")
 	}
@@ -141,6 +155,23 @@ func (c *ReplicateCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 		}()
 	}
 
+	// Parse exec commands args & start subprocess.
+	if c.Config.Exec != "" {
+		execArgs, err := shellwords.Parse(c.Config.Exec)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot parse exec command: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		c.cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, execArgs[0], execArgs[1:]...)
+		c.cmd.Env = os.Environ()
+		c.cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+		c.cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+		if err := c.cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot start exec command: %w", err)
+		}
+		go func() { c.execCh <- c.cmd.Wait() }()
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -178,6 +209,10 @@ Arguments:
 	    Specifies the configuration file.
 	    Defaults to %s
 
+	-exec CMD
+	    Executes a subcommand. Litestream will exit when the child
+	    process exits. Useful for simple process management.
+
 	-no-expand-env
 	    Disables environment variable expansion in configuration file.
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 5ed2361..1c5a0e8 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/Azure/go-autorest/autorest v0.9.0 // indirect
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go v1.27.0
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
+	github.com/mattn/go-shellwords v1.0.11 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.5
 	github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4 v4.1.3
 	github.com/pkg/sftp v1.13.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index dc2265e..bda8ce9 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -276,6 +276,8 @@ github.com/mattn/go-ieproxy v0.0.1/go.mod h1:pYabZ6IHcRpFh7vIaLfK7rdcWgFEb3SFJ6/
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.3/go.mod h1:M+lRXTBqGeGNdLjl/ufCoiOlB5xdOkqRJdNxMWT7Zi4=
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.4/go.mod h1:M+lRXTBqGeGNdLjl/ufCoiOlB5xdOkqRJdNxMWT7Zi4=
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.2/go.mod h1:LwmH8dsx7+W8Uxz3IHJYH5QSwggIsqBzpuz5H//U1FU=
+github.com/mattn/go-shellwords v1.0.11 h1:vCoR9VPpsk/TZFW2JwK5I9S0xdrtUq2bph6/YjEPnaw=
+github.com/mattn/go-shellwords v1.0.11/go.mod h1:EZzvwXDESEeg03EKmM+RmDnNOPKG4lLtQsUlTZDWQ8Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.5 h1:1IdxlwTNazvbKJQSxoJ5/9ECbEeaTTyeU7sEAZ5KKTQ=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.5/go.mod h1:WVKg1VTActs4Qso6iwGbiFih2UIHo0ENGwNd0Lj+XmI=
 github.com/matttproud/golang_protobuf_extensions v1.0.1 h1:4hp9jkHxhMHkqkrB3Ix0jegS5sx/RkqARlsWZ6pIwiU=