diff --git a/src/process.c b/src/process.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab4b37e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/process.c
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/* Process handling support code */
+
+/* (C) 2010 by Harald Welte <laforge@gnumonks.org>
+ * All Rights Reserved
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+int osmo_daemonize(void)
+{
+	int rc;
+	pid_t pid, sid;
+
+	/* Check if parent PID == init, in which case we are already a daemon */
+	if (getppid() == 1)
+		return -EEXIST;
+
+	/* Fork from the parent process */
+	pid = fork();
+	if (pid < 0) {
+		/* some error happened */
+		return pid;
+	}
+
+	if (pid > 0) {
+		/* if we have received a positive PID, then we are the parent
+ 		 * and can exit */
+		exit(0);
+	}
+
+	/* FIXME: do we really want this? */
+	umask(0);
+
+	/* Create a new session and set process group ID */
+	sid = setsid();
+	if (sid < 0)
+		return sid;
+
+	/* Change to the /tmp directory, which prevents the CWD from being locked
+	 * and unable to remove it */
+	rc = chdir("/tmp");
+	if (rc < 0)
+		return rc;
+
+	/* Redirect stdio to /dev/null */
+	freopen("/dev/null", "r", stdin);
+	freopen("/dev/null", "w", stdout);
+	freopen("/dev/null", "w", stderr);
+
+	return 0;
+}