diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 69af964..71d5539 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ TRUNK
 - [bugfix] made image URLS in stylesheets relative [Anselm Helbig]
 - [bugfix] Make dashboard xhtml compliant
 - [bugfix] Recognize OpenBSD as a platform
+- Improve daemon_helper to kill all child processes (don't leave any orphans)
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * 1.3.0
diff --git a/daemon/daemon_helper.rb b/daemon/daemon_helper.rb
index 0265d5b..92cb8eb 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon_helper.rb
+++ b/daemon/daemon_helper.rb
@@ -29,8 +29,25 @@ def su_if_needed(cmd)
   cmd
 end
 
+def cruise_pid_file
+  "#{CRUISE_HOME}/tmp/pids/mongrel.pid"
+end
+
+def read_cruise_pid
+  return File.open(cruise_pid_file){|f| f.read } if File.exist?(cruise_pid_file)
+  nil
+end
+
 def start_cruise(start_cmd = "cd #{CRUISE_HOME} && ./cruise start -d")
   log(:env, ENV.inspect)
+
+  # remove cruise pid file if process is no longer running
+  cruise_pid = read_cruise_pid
+  if cruise_pid
+    cruise_process = `ps -ea -o 'pid'`.grep(/#{cruise_pid}/).first
+    FileUtils.rm(cruise_pid_file) unless cruise_process
+  end
+
   output = `#{su_if_needed(start_cmd)} 2>&1`
   if $?.success?
     print output + "\n"
@@ -44,12 +61,43 @@ end
 
 def stop_cruise
   failed = false
-  failed ||= !(system "mongrel_rails stop -P #{CRUISE_HOME}/tmp/pids/mongrel.pid")
+  cruise_pid = read_cruise_pid
+  unless cruise_pid
+    error_msg = "unable to read cruisecontrol.rb pid file #{cruise_pid_file}, cannot stop"
+    log(:err, error_msg)
+    print error_msg + "\n"
+    exit 1
+  end
+  cruise_process = `ps -ea -o 'pid pgrp args'`.grep(/^\s*#{cruise_pid}\s+\d+\s+.*/).first
+  cruise_process =~ /^\s*#{cruise_pid}\s+(\d+)\s+(.*)/
+  cruise_process_group = $1
+  cruise_process_args = $2
+  unless cruise_process_group  =~ /^\d+$/
+    error_msg = "unable to find cruise process #{cruise_pid}, cannot stop"
+    log(:err, error_msg)
+    print error_msg + "\n"
+    exit 1
+  end
+
+  cruise_child_processes = `ps -ea -o 'pid pgrp args'`.grep(/^\s*\d+\s+#{cruise_process_group}\s+/)
+
+  print("Killing cruise process #{cruise_pid}: #{cruise_process_args}\n")
+  failed ||= !(system "mongrel_rails stop -P #{cruise_pid_file}")
+
+  cruise_child_processes.each do |child_process|
+    child_process =~ /^\s*(\d+)\s+#{cruise_process_group}\s+(.*)/
+    child_pid = $1
+    next if child_pid == cruise_pid
+    child_args = $2
+    print("Killing child process #{child_pid}: #{child_args}\n")
+    system "kill -9 #{child_pid}"
+  end
+
   Dir["#{CRUISE_HOME}/tmp/pids/builders/*.pid"].each do |pid_file|
     pid = File.open(pid_file){|f| f.read }
-    failed ||= !(system "kill -9 #{pid}")
     rm pid_file
   end
+
   if failed
     log(:err, "'stop' command failed")
     exit 1