diff --git a/jmc.py b/jmc.py
index 8c15dbe..575470c 100755
--- a/jmc.py
+++ b/jmc.py
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ def main(config_file = "jmc.xml", isDebug = 0):
 		str(sys.exc_value)
             sys.exit(1)
 
+        pidfile = open(config.get_content("config/pidfile"), "w")
+        pidfile.write(str(os.getpid()))
+        pidfile.close()
         mailconnection.default_encoding = config.get_content("config/mail_default_encoding")
         print "creating component..."
         mailcomp = MailComponent(config.get_content("config/jabber/service"), \
diff --git a/jmc.xml b/jmc.xml
index 7a3f58d..c1d1d10 100644
--- a/jmc.xml
+++ b/jmc.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
   </jabber>
   <storage>DBM</storage>
   <spooldir>/var/spool/jabber</spooldir>
+  <pidfile>/var/run/jabber/jmc.pid</pidfile>
   <!-- default check interval in minutes -->
   <check_interval>5</check_interval>
   <mail_default_encoding>iso-8859-1</mail_default_encoding>
diff --git a/tests/jmc-test.xml b/tests/jmc-test.xml
index 875c883..c90e6a9 100644
--- a/tests/jmc-test.xml
+++ b/tests/jmc-test.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
      </vCard>
   </jabber>
   <storage>SQLite</storage>
+  <pidfile>jmc.pid</pidfile>
   <spooldir>.</spooldir>
   <check_interval>5</check_interval> <!-- in minutes -->
   <mail_default_encoding>iso-8859-15</mail_default_encoding>