diff --git a/FileUtils.cpp b/FileUtils.cpp
index 961ec2af..a8112773 100644
--- a/FileUtils.cpp
+++ b/FileUtils.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
 
 #ifndef HAVE_LSTAT
 #  define lstat(a, b)	stat(a, b)
@@ -388,23 +389,33 @@ bool CFile::TryExLock(const CString& sLockFile, int iFlags) {
 }
 
 bool CFile::TryExLock() {
-	return Lock(LOCK_EX|LOCK_NB);
+	return Lock(F_WRLCK, false);
+}
+
+bool CFile::ExLock() {
+	return Lock(F_WRLCK, true);
 }
 
 bool CFile::UnLock() {
-	return Lock(LOCK_UN);
+	return Lock(F_UNLCK, true);
 }
 
-bool CFile::Lock(int iOperation) {
+bool CFile::Lock(int iType, bool bBlocking) {
+	struct flock fl;
+
 	if (m_iFD == -1) {
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	if (flock(m_iFD, iOperation) != 0) {
+	fl.l_type   = iType;
+	fl.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
+	fl.l_start  = 0;
+	fl.l_len    = 0;
+	if (fcntl(m_iFD, (bBlocking ? F_SETLKW : F_SETLK), &fl) == -1) {
 		return false;
+	} else {
+		return true;
 	}
-
-	return true;
 }
 
 bool CFile::IsOpen() const { return (m_iFD != -1); }
diff --git a/FileUtils.h b/FileUtils.h
index e5e60cb6..482bc09f 100644
--- a/FileUtils.h
+++ b/FileUtils.h
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ public:
 
 	bool TryExLock(const CString& sLockFile, int iFlags = O_RDONLY | O_CREAT);
 	bool TryExLock();
+	bool ExLock();
 	bool UnLock();
 
 	bool IsOpen() const;
@@ -119,8 +120,8 @@ public:
 	CString GetDir() const;
 
 private:
-	// flock() wrapper
-	bool Lock(int iOperation);
+	// fcntl() locking wrapper
+	bool Lock(int iType, bool bBlocking);
 
 	CString m_sBuffer;
 	int     m_iFD;
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 666cd8c6..20507a4c 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -254,6 +254,16 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 			return 0;
 		}
 
+		/* fcntl() locks don't necessarily propagate to forked()
+		 *   children.  Reacquire the lock here.  Use the blocking
+		 *   call to avoid race condition with parent exiting.
+		 */
+		if (!pZNC->WaitForChildLock()) {
+			CUtils::PrintError("Child was unable to obtain lock on config file.");
+			delete pZNC;
+			return 1;
+		}
+
 		// Redirect std in/out/err to /dev/null
 		close(0); open("/dev/null", O_RDONLY);
 		close(1); open("/dev/null", O_WRONLY);
diff --git a/znc.cpp b/znc.cpp
index 6d76d5b0..d0b5f950 100644
--- a/znc.cpp
+++ b/znc.cpp
@@ -1058,7 +1058,9 @@ bool CZNC::DoRehash(CString& sError)
 	if (m_LockFile.IsOpen())
 		m_LockFile.Close();
 
-	if (!m_LockFile.Open(m_sConfigFile)) {
+	// need to open the config file Read/Write for fcntl()
+	// exclusive locking to work properly!
+	if (!m_LockFile.Open(m_sConfigFile, O_RDWR)) {
 		sError = "Can not open config file";
 		CUtils::PrintStatus(false, sError);
 		return false;
@@ -2071,3 +2073,7 @@ void CZNC::LeakConnectUser(CConnectUserTimer *pTimer) {
 	if (m_pConnectUserTimer == pTimer)
 		m_pConnectUserTimer = NULL;
 }
+
+bool CZNC::WaitForChildLock() {
+	return m_LockFile.ExLock();
+}
diff --git a/znc.h b/znc.h
index 38545975..fda9a764 100644
--- a/znc.h
+++ b/znc.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ public:
 	void ReleaseISpoof();
 	bool WritePidFile(int iPid);
 	bool DeletePidFile();
+	bool WaitForChildLock();
 	Csock* FindSockByName(const CString& sSockName);
 	bool IsHostAllowed(const CString& sHostMask) const;
 	// This returns false if there are too many anonymous connections from this ip