diff --git a/scripts/getpiddir.php b/scripts/getpiddir.php
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..b4dda2254c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/getpiddir.php
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env php
+<?php
+/*
+ * Laconica - a distributed open-source microblogging tool
+ * Copyright (C) 2008, Controlez-Vous, Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+# Abort if called from a web server
+if (isset($_SERVER) && array_key_exists('REQUEST_METHOD', $_SERVER)) {
+	print "This script must be run from the command line\n";
+	exit();
+}
+
+define('INSTALLDIR', realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/..'));
+define('LACONICA', true);
+
+require_once(INSTALLDIR . '/lib/common.php');
+
+echo common_config('daemon','piddir');
diff --git a/scripts/startdaemons.sh b/scripts/startdaemons.sh
index a862b9dfe9..685bd938fa 100755
--- a/scripts/startdaemons.sh
+++ b/scripts/startdaemons.sh
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@
 # This program tries to start the daemons for Laconica.
 # Note that the 'maildaemon' needs to run as a mail filter.
 
-export INSTALLDIR=$1
+DIR=`dirname $0`
 
 for f in xmppdaemon.php jabberqueuehandler.php publicqueuehandler.php \
          xmppconfirmhandler.php smsqueuehandler.php ombqueuehandler.php; do
 
          echo -n "Starting $f...";
-	 php $INSTALLDIR/scripts/$f;
+	 php $DIR/$f
 	 echo "DONE."
 done
diff --git a/scripts/stopdaemons.sh b/scripts/stopdaemons.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..b8b16763f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/stopdaemons.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Laconica - a distributed open-source microblogging tool
+
+# Copyright (C) 2008, Controlez-Vous, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# This program tries to stop the daemons for Laconica that were
+# previously started by startdaemons.sh
+
+DIR=`php getpiddir.php`
+
+for f in jabberhandler ombhandler publichandler smshandler \
+	 xmppconfirmhandler xmppdaemon; do
+
+	FILES="$DIR/$f.*.pid"
+	for ff in "$FILES" ; do
+
+	 	echo -n "Stopping $f..."
+	 	PID=`cat $ff`
+		kill -3 $PID
+		if kill -9 $PID ; then
+			echo "DONE."
+		else
+			echo "FAILED."
+		fi
+		rm -f $ff
+	done
+done
+