diff --git a/moses/ExportInterface.cpp b/moses/ExportInterface.cpp
index 3e22f6d95..df298cc0b 100644
--- a/moses/ExportInterface.cpp
+++ b/moses/ExportInterface.cpp
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 #ifdef HAVE_XMLRPC_C
 #include "moses/server/Server.h"
 #endif
+#include <signal.h>
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace Moses;
@@ -140,11 +141,27 @@ void SimpleTranslationInterface::DestroyFeatureFunctionStatic()
 
 Parameter params;
 
+void 
+signal_handler(int signum)
+{
+  if (signum == SIGALRM) {
+    exit(0); // that's what we expected from the child process after forking
+  }
+  else if (signum == SIGTERM || signum == SIGKILL) { 
+    exit(0);
+  }
+  else {
+    std::cerr << "Unexpected signal " << signum << std::endl;
+    exit(signum); 
+  }
+}
+
 //! run moses in server mode
 int
 run_as_server()
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_XMLRPC_C
+  kill(getppid(),SIGALRM); 
   MosesServer::Server server(params);
   return server.run(); // actually: don't return. see Server::run()
 #else
@@ -322,17 +339,25 @@ int decoder_main(int argc, char const** argv)
     if (!StaticData::LoadDataStatic(&params, argv[0]))
       exit(1);
 
+    //
+#if 1
+    pid_t pid;
+    if (params.GetParam("daemon")) {
+      pid = fork();
+      if (pid) { pause(); exit(0); } // parent process
+    }
+#endif
     // setting "-show-weights" -> just dump out weights and exit
     if (params.isParamSpecified("show-weights")) {
       ShowWeights();
       exit(0);
     }
 
-    if (params.GetParam("server"))
+    if (params.GetParam("server")) {
+      std::cerr << "RUN SERVER at pid " << pid << std::endl;
       return run_as_server();
-    else
+    } else 
       return batch_run();
-
   }
 #ifdef NDEBUG
   catch (const std::exception &e) {
diff --git a/moses/Parameter.cpp b/moses/Parameter.cpp
index e9969dceb..348f8bb31 100644
--- a/moses/Parameter.cpp
+++ b/moses/Parameter.cpp
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ Parameter::Parameter()
   // server options
   po::options_description server_opts("Moses Server Options");
   AddParam(server_opts,"server", "Run moses as a translation server.");
+  AddParam(server_opts,"daemon", "Run moses as a translation server in the background.");
   AddParam(server_opts,"server-port", "Port for moses server");
   AddParam(server_opts,"server-log", "Log destination for moses server");
   AddParam(server_opts,"serial", "Run server in serial mode, processing only one request at a time.");
@@ -232,7 +233,6 @@ Parameter::Parameter()
            "Max. number of seconds the server will keep a persistent connection alive.");
   AddParam(server_opts,"server-timeout",
            "Max. number of seconds the server will wait for a client to submit a request once a connection has been established.");
-
   // session timeout and session cache size are for moses translation session handling
   // they have nothing to do with the abyss server (but relate to the moses server)
   AddParam(server_opts,"session-timeout",
diff --git a/moses/server/Server.cpp b/moses/server/Server.cpp
index 8a78dd7bc..19073873f 100644
--- a/moses/server/Server.cpp
+++ b/moses/server/Server.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 // -*- mode: c++; indent-tabs-mode: nil; tab-width: 2 -*-
 #include "Server.h"
+#include <sstream>
+
 namespace MosesServer
 {
   Server::
@@ -16,6 +18,12 @@ namespace MosesServer
     m_registry.addMethod("close_session", m_close_session);
   }
 
+  Server::
+  ~Server()
+  {
+    unlink(m_pidfile.c_str());
+  }
+
   int 
   Server::
   run()
@@ -32,7 +40,12 @@ namespace MosesServer
        .keepaliveMaxConn(m_server_options.keepaliveMaxConn)
        .timeout(m_server_options.timeout)
        );
-    
+    std::ostringstream pidfilename;
+    pidfilename << "/tmp/moses-server." << m_server_options.port << ".pid";
+    m_pidfile = pidfilename.str();
+    std::ofstream pidfile(m_pidfile.c_str());
+    pidfile << getpid() << std::endl;
+    pidfile.close();
     XVERBOSE(1,"Listening on port " << m_server_options.port << std::endl);
     if (m_server_options.is_serial) 
       {
diff --git a/moses/server/Server.h b/moses/server/Server.h
index 4afbf5d91..802eaef3e 100644
--- a/moses/server/Server.h
+++ b/moses/server/Server.h
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "CloseSession.h"
 #include "Session.h"
 #include "moses/parameters/ServerOptions.h"
+#include <string>
 
 namespace MosesServer
 {
@@ -28,9 +29,10 @@ namespace MosesServer
     xmlrpc_c::methodPtr const m_optimizer;
     xmlrpc_c::methodPtr const m_translator;
     xmlrpc_c::methodPtr const m_close_session;
+    std::string m_pidfile;
   public:
     Server(Moses::Parameter& params);
-
+    ~Server();
     int run();
     void delete_session(uint64_t const session_id);