diff --git a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/Server.java b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/Server.java
index 4980f04f6f65..3b0028ac18a8 100644
--- a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/Server.java
+++ b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/Server.java
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ public class Server {
   private final Map<PushQueryId, PushQueryHolder> queries = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
   private final Set<HttpConnection> connections = new ConcurrentHashSet<>();
   private final int maxPushQueryCount;
-  private final Set<ServerVerticle> serverVerticles = new HashSet<>();
   private final Set<String> deploymentIds = new HashSet<>();
   private final KsqlSecurityExtension securityExtension;
   private final Optional<AuthenticationPlugin> authenticationPlugin;
@@ -122,7 +121,6 @@ public synchronized void start() {
                 listener.getScheme().equalsIgnoreCase("https")),
             this, isInternalListener);
         vertx.deployVerticle(serverVerticle, vcf);
-        serverVerticles.add(serverVerticle);
         final int index = i;
         final CompletableFuture<String> deployFuture = vcf.thenApply(s -> {
           if (index == 0) {
@@ -140,7 +138,7 @@ public synchronized void start() {
       }
     }
 
-    configureTlsCertReload(config, serverVerticles);
+    configureTlsCertReload(config);
 
     final CompletableFuture<Void> allDeployFuture = CompletableFuture.allOf(deployFutures
         .toArray(new CompletableFuture<?>[0]));
@@ -184,6 +182,11 @@ public synchronized void stop() {
     log.info("API server stopped");
   }
 
+  public void restart() {
+    stop();
+    start();
+  }
+
   public WorkerExecutor getWorkerExecutor() {
     return workerExecutor;
   }
@@ -245,6 +248,28 @@ public synchronized Optional<URI> getInternalListener() {
     return Optional.ofNullable(internalListener);
   }
 
+  private void configureTlsCertReload(final KsqlRestConfig config) {
+    if (config.getBoolean(KsqlRestConfig.SSL_KEYSTORE_RELOAD_CONFIG)) {
+      final Path watchLocation;
+      if (!config.getString(KsqlRestConfig.SSL_KEYSTORE_WATCH_LOCATION_CONFIG).isEmpty()) {
+        watchLocation = Paths.get(
+            config.getString(KsqlRestConfig.SSL_KEYSTORE_WATCH_LOCATION_CONFIG));
+      } else {
+        watchLocation = Paths.get(config.getString(SslConfigs.SSL_KEYSTORE_LOCATION_CONFIG));
+      }
+
+      try {
+        FileWatcher.onFileChange(
+            watchLocation,
+            this::restart
+        );
+        log.info("Enabled SSL cert auto reload for: " + watchLocation);
+      } catch (java.io.IOException e) {
+        log.error("Can not enabled SSL cert auto reload", e);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   private static HttpServerOptions createHttpServerOptions(final KsqlRestConfig ksqlRestConfig,
       final String host, final int port, final boolean tls) {
 
@@ -344,29 +369,4 @@ private static List<URI> parseListenerStrings(
     }
     return listeners;
   }
-
-  private static void configureTlsCertReload(
-      final KsqlRestConfig config,
-      final Set<ServerVerticle> serverVerticles
-  ) {
-    if (config.getBoolean(KsqlRestConfig.SSL_KEYSTORE_RELOAD_CONFIG)) {
-      final Path watchLocation;
-      if (!config.getString(KsqlRestConfig.SSL_KEYSTORE_WATCH_LOCATION_CONFIG).isEmpty()) {
-        watchLocation = Paths.get(
-            config.getString(KsqlRestConfig.SSL_KEYSTORE_WATCH_LOCATION_CONFIG));
-      } else {
-        watchLocation = Paths.get(config.getString(SslConfigs.SSL_KEYSTORE_LOCATION_CONFIG));
-      }
-
-      try {
-        FileWatcher.onFileChange(
-            watchLocation,
-            () -> serverVerticles.forEach(ServerVerticle::restartServer)
-        );
-        log.info("Enabled SSL cert auto reload for: " + watchLocation);
-      } catch (java.io.IOException e) {
-        log.error("Can not enabled SSL cert auto reload", e);
-      }
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/ServerVerticle.java b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/ServerVerticle.java
index 3126a7eb6635..14c8c6983112 100644
--- a/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/ServerVerticle.java
+++ b/ksqldb-rest-app/src/main/java/io/confluent/ksql/api/server/ServerVerticle.java
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ public class ServerVerticle extends AbstractVerticle {
   private final HttpServerOptions httpServerOptions;
   private final Server server;
   private ConnectionQueryManager connectionQueryManager;
-  private Router router;
   private HttpServer httpServer;
   private final Optional<Boolean> isInternalListener;
 
@@ -80,8 +79,8 @@ public ServerVerticle(
   @Override
   public void start(final Promise<Void> startPromise) {
     this.connectionQueryManager = new ConnectionQueryManager(context, server);
-    router = setupRouter();
-    httpServer = createHttpServer();
+    httpServer = vertx.createHttpServer(httpServerOptions).requestHandler(setupRouter())
+        .exceptionHandler(ServerVerticle::unhandledExceptionHandler);
     httpServer.listen(ar -> {
       if (ar.succeeded()) {
         startPromise.complete();
@@ -100,39 +99,10 @@ public void stop(final Promise<Void> stopPromise) {
     }
   }
 
-  // Creates a new server, rather than simply stopping and restarting, in order to reload TLS certs
-  public void restartServer() {
-    final String host = httpServerOptions.getHost();
-    final int port = httpServer.actualPort();
-
-    log.info("Restarting server");
-    httpServer.close(closeAR -> {
-      if (closeAR.succeeded()) {
-        log.info("Server has closed");
-      } else {
-        log.error("Error closing server during restart", closeAR.cause());
-      }
-
-      httpServer = createHttpServer();
-      httpServer.listen(port, host, startAR -> {
-        if (startAR.succeeded()) {
-          log.info("Server has restarted");
-        } else {
-          log.error("Error starting server during restart", startAR.cause());
-        }
-      });
-    });
-  }
-
   int actualPort() {
     return httpServer.actualPort();
   }
 
-  private HttpServer createHttpServer() {
-    return vertx.createHttpServer(httpServerOptions).requestHandler(router)
-        .exceptionHandler(ServerVerticle::unhandledExceptionHandler);
-  }
-
   private Router setupRouter() {
     final Router router = Router.router(vertx);