--- src/minilogd.c
+++ src/minilogd.c
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/un.h>
 
+#define LOG_LOCK "/var/lock/subsys/minilogd"
+
 static int we_own_log=0;
 static char **buffer=NULL;
 static int buflines=0;
@@ -139,22 +141,49 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    struct sockaddr_un addr;
    int sock;
    int pid;
+   int we_hold_lock = 0;
+   int cannot_lock = 0;
+   int i;
     
    /* option processing made simple... */
    if (argc>1) debug=1;
-   /* just in case */
-   sock = open("/dev/null",O_RDWR);
-   dup2(sock,0);
-   dup2(sock,1);
-   dup2(sock,2);
-	
    bzero(&addr, sizeof(addr));
    addr.sun_family = AF_LOCAL;
    strncpy(addr.sun_path,_PATH_LOG,sizeof(addr.sun_path)-1);
    sock = socket(AF_LOCAL, SOCK_STREAM,0);
+   
+   for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      if (open(LOG_LOCK, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0) == -1) {
+	 if (errno == EEXIST) {
+	    sleep(1);
+	    continue;
+	 } else {
+	    cannot_lock = 1;
+	    break;
+	 }
+      } else {
+	 we_hold_lock = 1;
+	 break;
+      }
+   }
+
+   if (!cannot_lock && !we_hold_lock) {
+      fprintf(stderr, "minilogd: cannot get lock for /dev/log\n");
+      exit(6);
+   }
+
    unlink(_PATH_LOG);
+
+   /* just in case */
+   sock = open("/dev/null",O_RDWR);
+   dup2(sock,0);
+   dup2(sock,1);
+   dup2(sock,2);
+
    /* Bind socket before forking, so we know if the server started */
    if (!bind(sock,(struct sockaddr *) &addr, sizeof(addr))) {
+      if (we_hold_lock)
+	 unlink(LOG_LOCK);
       we_own_log = 1;
       listen(sock,5);
       if ((pid=fork())==-1) {
@@ -169,6 +198,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	  exit(4);
       }
    } else {
+      if (we_hold_lock)
+	 unlink(LOG_LOCK);
       exit(5);
    }
 }