diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index 4a764068..f2f7d222 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -167,6 +167,9 @@ Everything after that is bound to *command-line-args*."))
 (defn load-file* [ctx file]
   (let [s (slurp file)]
     (sci/eval-string s ctx)))
+    
+(defn eval* [ctx form]
+  (sci/eval-string (pr-str form) ctx))
 
 (defn start-socket-repl! [address ctx read-next]
   (let [ctx (update ctx :bindings assoc
@@ -223,7 +226,8 @@ Everything after that is bound to *command-line-args*."))
              :bindings (assoc bindings '*command-line-args* command-line-args)
              :env env
              :features #{:bb}}
-        ctx (update ctx :bindings assoc 'load-file #(load-file* ctx %))
+        ctx (update ctx :bindings assoc 'eval #(eval* ctx %) 
+                                        'load-file #(load-file* ctx %))
         _preloads (some-> (System/getenv "BABASHKA_PRELOADS") (str/trim) (sci/eval-string ctx))
         exit-code
         (or
diff --git a/test/babashka/main_test.clj b/test/babashka/main_test.clj
index 747900ad..05f5858a 100644
--- a/test/babashka/main_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/main_test.clj
@@ -132,6 +132,11 @@
     (is (= "120\n" (test-utils/bb nil (format "(load-file \"%s\") (bar (foo 10 30) 3)"
                                               (.getPath tmp)))))))
 
+(deftest eval-test
+  (is (= "120\n" (test-utils/bb nil "(eval '(do (defn foo [x y] (+ x y))
+                                                (defn bar [x y] (* x y)) 
+                                                (bar (foo 10 30) 3)))"))))
+
 (deftest preloads-test
   ;; THIS TEST REQUIRES:
   ;; export BABASHKA_PRELOADS='(defn __bb__foo [] "foo") (defn __bb__bar [] "bar")'