diff --git a/Process.h.in b/Process.h.in
index 313554ef1f4f3318cb2f9c0c57cf0103e4de6bfc..7f4ea19928d5d1c649c2826da20f66f09842cbca 100644
--- a/Process.h.in
+++ b/Process.h.in
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@
 #  define kwsysProcess_Interrupt kwsys_ns(Process_Interrupt)
 #  define kwsysProcess_Kill kwsys_ns(Process_Kill)
 #  define kwsysProcess_KillPID kwsys_ns(Process_KillPID)
+#  define kwsysProcess_GetParentPID kwsys_ns(Process_GetParentPID)
 #  define kwsysProcess_ResetStartTime kwsys_ns(Process_ResetStartTime)
 #endif
 
@@ -468,6 +469,13 @@ kwsysEXPORT void kwsysProcess_Kill(kwsysProcess* cp);
  */
 kwsysEXPORT void kwsysProcess_KillPID(unsigned long);
 
+#ifndef _WIN32
+/**
+ * Get the parent process ID from a given process ID
+ */
+kwsysEXPORT unsigned long kwsysProcess_GetParentPID(unsigned long);
+#endif
+
 /**
  * Reset the start time of the child process to the current time.
  */
@@ -537,6 +545,8 @@ kwsysEXPORT void kwsysProcess_ResetStartTime(kwsysProcess* cp);
 #    undef kwsysProcess_WaitForExit
 #    undef kwsysProcess_Interrupt
 #    undef kwsysProcess_Kill
+#    undef kwsysProcess_KillPID
+#    undef kwsysProcess_GetParentPID
 #    undef kwsysProcess_ResetStartTime
 #  endif
 #endif
diff --git a/ProcessUNIX.c b/ProcessUNIX.c
index ce6bb7b9cf165220cfa682afbe9a8aa81e100a15..21c57e5973c346328a827eafdf360f6e0103f4b1 100644
--- a/ProcessUNIX.c
+++ b/ProcessUNIX.c
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ static void kwsysProcessRestoreDefaultSignalHandlers(void);
 static pid_t kwsysProcessFork(kwsysProcess* cp,
                               kwsysProcessCreateInformation* si);
 static void kwsysProcessKill(pid_t process_id);
+static pid_t kwsysGetParentPID(pid_t process_id);
 #if defined(__VMS)
 static int kwsysProcessSetVMSFeature(char const* name, int value);
 #endif
@@ -2626,6 +2627,73 @@ static void kwsysProcessKill(pid_t process_id)
   kill(process_id, SIGKILL);
 #endif
 }
+unsigned long kwsysProcess_GetParentPID(unsigned long process_id)
+{
+  return kwsysGetParentPID((pid_t)process_id);
+}
+
+static pid_t kwsysGetParentPID(pid_t process_id)
+{
+#if defined(__linux__) || defined(__CYGWIN__)
+  DIR* procdir;
+#endif
+
+#if defined(__linux__) || defined(__CYGWIN__)
+  /* First try using the /proc filesystem.  */
+  if ((procdir = opendir("/proc"))) {
+#  if defined(MAXPATHLEN)
+    char fname[MAXPATHLEN];
+#  elif defined(PATH_MAX)
+    char fname[PATH_MAX];
+#  else
+    char fname[4096];
+#  endif
+    char buffer[KWSYSPE_PIPE_BUFFER_SIZE + 1];
+
+    struct stat finfo;
+    snprintf(fname, sizeof(fname), "/proc/%d/stat", process_id);
+    if (stat(fname, &finfo) == 0) {
+      FILE* f = fopen(fname, "r");
+      if (f) {
+        size_t nread = fread(buffer, 1, 1024, f);
+        fclose(f);
+        buffer[nread] = '\0';
+        if (nread > 0) {
+          char const* rparen = strrchr(buffer, ')');
+          int ppid;
+          if (rparen && (sscanf(rparen + 1, "%*s %d", &ppid) == 1)) {
+            return ppid;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    closedir(procdir);
+  } else
+#endif
+  {
+#if defined(KWSYSPE_PS_COMMAND)
+    /* Try running "ps" to get the process information.  */
+    FILE* ps = popen(KWSYSPE_PS_COMMAND, "r");
+
+    /* Make sure the process started and provided a valid header.  */
+    if (ps && fscanf(ps, "%*[^\n]\n") != EOF) {
+      int pid;
+      int ppid;
+      while (fscanf(ps, KWSYSPE_PS_FORMAT, &pid, &ppid) == 2) {
+        if (pid == process_id) {
+          return ppid;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    /* We are done with the ps process.  */
+    if (ps) {
+      pclose(ps);
+    }
+#endif
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
 
 #if defined(__VMS)
 int decc$feature_get_index(char const* name);