diff --git a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/CompilerArguments.java b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/CompilerArguments.java
index 4c33f78ba45..712f4a4eb9f 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/CompilerArguments.java
+++ b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/CompilerArguments.java
@@ -29,6 +29,17 @@ import java.util.List;
 public class CompilerArguments {
     private List<CompilerPlugin> compilerPlugins = new ArrayList<CompilerPlugin>();
 
+    // TODO ideally we'd unify this with 'src' to just having a single field that supports multiple files/dirs
+    private List<String> sourceDirs;
+
+    public List<String> getSourceDirs() {
+        return sourceDirs;
+    }
+
+    public void setSourceDirs(List<String> sourceDirs) {
+        this.sourceDirs = sourceDirs;
+    }
+
     @Argument(value = "output", description = "output directory")
     public String outputDir;
 
diff --git a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/KotlinCompiler.java b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/KotlinCompiler.java
index be035f98d63..9a1f8daa25c 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/KotlinCompiler.java
+++ b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/cli/KotlinCompiler.java
@@ -123,7 +123,12 @@ public class KotlinCompiler {
                 noErrors = environment.compileModuleScript(arguments.module, arguments.jar, arguments.outputDir, arguments.includeRuntime);
             }
             else {
-                noErrors = environment.compileBunchOfSources(arguments.src, arguments.jar, arguments.outputDir, arguments.includeRuntime);
+                // TODO ideally we'd unify to just having a single field that supports multiple files/dirs
+                if (arguments.getSourceDirs() != null) {
+                    noErrors = environment.compileBunchOfSourceDirectories(arguments.getSourceDirs(), arguments.jar, arguments.outputDir, arguments.includeRuntime);
+                } else {
+                    noErrors = environment.compileBunchOfSources(arguments.src, arguments.jar, arguments.outputDir, arguments.includeRuntime);
+                }
             }
             return noErrors ? OK : COMPILATION_ERROR;
         }
diff --git a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/compiler/CompileEnvironment.java b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/compiler/CompileEnvironment.java
index 39c1e47f4bd..43fd257009f 100644
--- a/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/compiler/CompileEnvironment.java
+++ b/compiler/cli/src/org/jetbrains/jet/compiler/CompileEnvironment.java
@@ -405,6 +405,21 @@ public class CompileEnvironment {
 
         session.addSources(sourceFileOrDir);
 
+        return compileBunchOfSources(jar, outputDir, includeRuntime, session);
+    }
+
+    public boolean compileBunchOfSourceDirectories(List<String> sources, String jar, String outputDir, boolean includeRuntime) {
+        CompileSession session = newCompileSession();
+        session.setStubs(mode != CompilerSpecialMode.REGULAR);
+
+        for (String source : sources) {
+            session.addSources(source);
+        }
+
+        return compileBunchOfSources(jar, outputDir, includeRuntime, session);
+    }
+
+    private boolean compileBunchOfSources(String jar, String outputDir, boolean includeRuntime, CompileSession session) {
         FqName mainClass = null;
         for (JetFile file : session.getSourceFiles()) {
             if (JetMainDetector.hasMain(file.getDeclarations())) {