diff --git a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
index 894b94401..0d1634296 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
+++ b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 7.7.17
  - fixed #10654: Story Archive: Search not working properly
+ - fixed #10692: Unprivileged users can stop spectre
  - fixed search indexer concatenates keywords to content.
  - fixed Index Story fields for Search (headline, subtitle, location, byline, highlights, story)
  - fixed #10619: Pagination macro
diff --git a/docs/gotcha.txt b/docs/gotcha.txt
index de03ef753..fcdad233e 100644
--- a/docs/gotcha.txt
+++ b/docs/gotcha.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@ save you many hours of grief.
 
 7.7.17
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
+    * Spectre now works like many other programs and writes a PID
+      file.  The location of that file is required to be in your
+      spectre.conf file to start or stop.  After installing this
+      version, you will need to manually kill spectre and then
+      restart it.
+
     * The Default Gallery Album View Thumbnails template has been reworked
       to get rid of intermittent rendering bugs with IE7.  The thumbnail
       pop-up is now completely CSS.  The thumbnails.js file is still available,
diff --git a/etc/spectre.conf.original b/etc/spectre.conf.original
index 62971e4a1..84788b754 100644
--- a/etc/spectre.conf.original
+++ b/etc/spectre.conf.original
@@ -46,7 +46,11 @@
 # It should be safe to set this to 1 any time spectre and WebGUI
 # are running on the same server.
 
-"ignoreEnvProxy" : 0
+"ignoreEnvProxy" : 0,
+
+# The location of the file that keeps track of the master spectre processId.
+
+"pidFile" : "/var/run/spectre.pid"
 
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/Spectre/Admin.pm b/lib/Spectre/Admin.pm
index 0f23aa036..53f340b3e 100644
--- a/lib/Spectre/Admin.pm
+++ b/lib/Spectre/Admin.pm
@@ -26,6 +26,21 @@ use Spectre::Cron;
 use Spectre::Workflow;
 
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head2 _safe_shutdown ( )
+
+Stops the kernel when TERM signal is received
+
+=cut
+
+sub _safe_shutdown {
+    my ($obj) = @_[ OBJECT ];
+    $obj->error('Spectre shut down');
+    POE::Kernel->stop;
+}
+
+
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 =head2 _start ( )
@@ -41,22 +56,9 @@ sub _start {
         $kernel->alias_set($serviceName);
         $kernel->call( IKC => publish => $serviceName, $publicEvents );
 	$kernel->delay_set("loadSiteData",3);
+    $kernel->sig( TERM => '_safe_shutdown' );
 }
 
-#-------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-=head2 _stop ( )
-
-Gracefully shuts down the admin interface.
-
-=cut
-
-sub _stop {
-	my ($kernel, $self) = @_[KERNEL, OBJECT];
-	$self->debug("Stopping Spectre administrative manager.");
-	undef $self;
-	$kernel->stop;
-}
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -204,8 +206,8 @@ sub new {
        	 	name => 'Spectre'
         	);
 	POE::Session->create(
-		object_states => [ $self => {_start=>"_start", _stop=>"_stop", "shutdown"=>"_stop", "ping"=>"ping", "loadSiteData"=>"loadSiteData"} ],
-		args=>[["shutdown","ping"]]
+		object_states => [ $self => {_start=>"_start", "ping"=>"ping", "loadSiteData"=>"loadSiteData", "_safe_shutdown" => "_safe_shutdown"} ],
+		args=>[["ping"]]
         	);
 	Spectre::Workflow->new($config, $logger, $debug);
 	Spectre::Cron->new($config, $logger, $debug);
diff --git a/sbin/spectre.pl b/sbin/spectre.pl
index 6c531c981..893f5ba6e 100755
--- a/sbin/spectre.pl
+++ b/sbin/spectre.pl
@@ -68,17 +68,22 @@ STOP
 }
 
 if ($shutdown) {
-	my $remote = create_ikc_client(
-	        port=>$config->get("port"),
-	        ip=>$config->get("ip"),
-	        name=>rand(100000),
-        	timeout=>10
-        	);
-	die $POE::Component::IKC::ClientLite::error unless $remote;
-	my $result = $remote->post('admin/shutdown');
-	die $POE::Component::IKC::ClientLite::error unless defined $result;
-	$remote->disconnect;
-	undef $remote;
+    local $/;
+    my $pidFileName = $config->get('pidFile');
+    if (! $pidFileName) {
+        die "No pidFile specified in spectre.conf\n";
+    }
+    open my $pidFile, '<', $pidFileName or
+        die "Unable to open pidFile ($pidFileName) for writing: $!\n";
+    my $spectrePid = <$pidFile>;
+    close $pidFile or
+        die "Unable to close pidFile ($pidFileName) after writing: $!\n";
+    chomp $spectrePid;
+    kill 15, $spectrePid;
+    sleep 1;
+    kill 9, $spectrePid;
+    unlink $pidFileName or
+        die "Unable to remove PID file\n";
 }
 elsif ($ping) {
 	my $res = ping();
@@ -95,18 +100,31 @@ elsif ($run) {
 	Spectre::Admin->new($config, $debug);
 }
 elsif ($daemon) {
+    my $pidFileName = $config->get('pidFile');
     if (!ping()) {
         die "Spectre is already running.\n";
     }
+    elsif (-e $pidFileName){
+        die "pidFile $pidFileName already exists\n";
+    }
     #fork and exit(sleep(1) and print((ping())?"Spectre failed to start!\n":"Spectre started successfully!\n"));  #Can't have right now.
     require POSIX;
     fork and exit;
     POSIX::setsid();
+    ##Write the PID file
+    if (! $pidFileName) {
+        die "No pidFile specified in spectre.conf\n";
+    }
+    open my $pidFile, '>', $pidFileName or
+        die "Unable to open pidFile ($pidFileName) for writing: $!\n";
     chdir "/";
     open STDIN, "+>", File::Spec->devnull;
     open STDOUT, "+>&STDIN";
     open STDERR, "+>&STDIN";
     fork and exit;
+    print $pidFile $$."\n";
+    close $pidFile or
+        die "Unable to close pidFile ($pidFileName) after writing: $!\n";
     Spectre::Admin->new($config, $debug);
 }