diff --git a/docs/language/api.rst b/docs/language/api.rst
index 57f6029..f9d21ad 100644
--- a/docs/language/api.rst
+++ b/docs/language/api.rst
@@ -441,6 +441,44 @@ symbols for function names as the first parameter, `defn-alias` and
   => (alias)
   "Hello!"
 
+
+defmain
+-------
+
+.. versionadded:: 0.9.13
+
+The `defmain` macro defines a main function that is immediately called
+with sys.argv as arguments if and only if this file is being executed
+as a script.  In other words this:
+
+.. code-block:: clj
+
+   (defmain [&rest args]
+     (do-something-with args))
+
+is the equivalent of::
+
+   def main(*args):
+       do_something_with(args)
+       return 0
+
+   if __name__ == "__main__":
+       import sys
+       retval = main(*sys.arg)
+
+       if isinstance(retval, int):
+           sys.exit(retval)
+
+Note, as you can see above, if you return an integer from this
+function, this will be used as the exit status for your script.
+(Python defaults to exit status 0 otherwise, which means everything's
+okay!)
+
+(Since (sys.exit 0) is not run explicitly in case of a non-integer
+return from defmain, it's good to put (defmain) as the last bit of
+code in your file.)
+
+
 .. _defmacro:
 
 defmacro
diff --git a/hy/core/macros.hy b/hy/core/macros.hy
index 531350e..33f74de 100644
--- a/hy/core/macros.hy
+++ b/hy/core/macros.hy
@@ -171,6 +171,21 @@
        (let ~(HyList (map (fn [x] `[~x (gensym (slice '~x 2))]) syms))
             ~@body))))
 
+
+(defmacro defmain [args &rest body]
+  "Write a function named \"main\" and do the if __main__ dance"
+  (let [[retval (gensym)]]
+    `(do
+      (defn main [~@args]
+        ~@body)
+
+      (when (= --name-- "__main__")
+        (import sys)
+        (setv ~retval (apply main sys.argv))
+        (if (integer? ~retval)
+          (sys.exit ~retval))))))
+
+
 (defmacro-alias [defn-alias defun-alias] [names lambda-list &rest body]
   "define one function with several names"
   (let [[main (first names)]
diff --git a/tests/resources/bin/main.hy b/tests/resources/bin/main.hy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fbf169f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/resources/bin/main.hy
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+(defmain [&rest args]
+  (print args)
+  (print "Hello World")
+  (if (in "exit1" args)
+    1))
diff --git a/tests/resources/bin/nomain.hy b/tests/resources/bin/nomain.hy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea559dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/resources/bin/nomain.hy
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+(print "This Should Still Works")
+
+(defn main []
+    (print "This Should Not Work"))
diff --git a/tests/test_bin.py b/tests/test_bin.py
index eb0d595..f6fb11c 100644
--- a/tests/test_bin.py
+++ b/tests/test_bin.py
@@ -142,3 +142,27 @@ def test_bin_hy_builtins():
 
     assert str(exit) == "Use (exit) or Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit"
     assert str(quit) == "Use (quit) or Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit"
+
+
+def test_bin_hy_main():
+    ret = run_cmd("hy tests/resources/bin/main.hy")
+    assert ret[0] == 0
+    assert "Hello World" in ret[1]
+
+
+def test_bin_hy_main_args():
+    ret = run_cmd("hy tests/resources/bin/main.hy test 123")
+    assert ret[0] == 0
+    assert "test" in ret[1]
+    assert "123" in ret[1]
+
+
+def test_bin_hy_main_exitvalue():
+    ret = run_cmd("hy tests/resources/bin/main.hy exit1")
+    assert ret[0] == 1
+
+
+def test_bin_hy_no_main():
+    ret = run_cmd("hy tests/resources/bin/nomain.hy")
+    assert ret[0] == 0
+    assert "This Should Still Work" in ret[1]