diff --git a/synapse/app/homeserver.py b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
index 49e27c9e11e324e26c3afb94b111d0286ce6c615..f04493f92ac6ac97958a2edab0fd1f52b4af4298 100755
--- a/synapse/app/homeserver.py
+++ b/synapse/app/homeserver.py
@@ -657,7 +657,8 @@ def run(hs):
 
     if hs.config.daemonize:
 
-        print hs.config.pid_file
+        if hs.config.print_pidfile:
+            print hs.config.pid_file
 
         daemon = Daemonize(
             app="synapse-homeserver",
diff --git a/synapse/config/server.py b/synapse/config/server.py
index f4d4a8710353266ad915f12e40cbfdba3a41211d..f9a3b5f15b122ef52b85b7cdbee393be4f5da6f3 100644
--- a/synapse/config/server.py
+++ b/synapse/config/server.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ class ServerConfig(Config):
         self.web_client = config["web_client"]
         self.soft_file_limit = config["soft_file_limit"]
         self.daemonize = config.get("daemonize")
+        self.print_pidfile = config.get("print_pidfile")
         self.use_frozen_dicts = config.get("use_frozen_dicts", True)
 
         self.listeners = config.get("listeners", [])
@@ -208,12 +209,18 @@ class ServerConfig(Config):
             self.manhole = args.manhole
         if args.daemonize is not None:
             self.daemonize = args.daemonize
+        if args.print_pidfile is not None:
+            self.print_pidfile = args.print_pidfile
 
     def add_arguments(self, parser):
         server_group = parser.add_argument_group("server")
         server_group.add_argument("-D", "--daemonize", action='store_true',
                                   default=None,
                                   help="Daemonize the home server")
+        server_group.add_argument("--print-pidfile", action='store_true',
+                                  default=None,
+                                  help="Print the path to the pidfile just"
+                                  " before daemonizing")
         server_group.add_argument("--manhole", metavar="PORT", dest="manhole",
                                   type=int,
                                   help="Turn on the twisted telnet manhole"