diff --git a/src/common/rclconfig.cpp b/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
index 7d540426..ecfa3124 100644
--- a/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/common/rclconfig.cpp
@@ -1398,36 +1398,38 @@ string RclConfig::getIdxStatusFile() const
 // Thanks to user Madhu for this fix.
 string RclConfig::getPidfile() const
 {
-    string fn;
+    static string fn;
+    if (fn.empty()) {
 #ifndef _WIN32
-    const char *p = getenv("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR");
-    string rundir;
-    if (nullptr == p) {
-        // Problem is, we may have been launched outside the desktop, maybe by cron. Basing
-        // everything on XDG_RUNTIME_DIR was a mistake, sometimes resulting in different pidfiles
-        // being used by recollindex instances. So explicitely test for /run/user/$uid, still
-        // leaving open the remote possibility that XDG_RUNTIME_DIR would be set to something
-        // else...
-        rundir = path_cat("/run/user", lltodecstr(getuid()));
-        if (path_isdir(rundir)) {
-            p = rundir.c_str();
+        const char *p = getenv("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR");
+        string rundir;
+        if (nullptr == p) {
+            // Problem is, we may have been launched outside the desktop, maybe by cron. Basing
+            // everything on XDG_RUNTIME_DIR was a mistake, sometimes resulting in different pidfiles
+            // being used by recollindex instances. So explicitely test for /run/user/$uid, still
+            // leaving open the remote possibility that XDG_RUNTIME_DIR would be set to something
+            // else...
+            rundir = path_cat("/run/user", lltodecstr(getuid()));
+            if (path_isdir(rundir)) {
+                p = rundir.c_str();
+            }
+        }
+        if (p) {
+            string base = path_canon(p);
+            string digest, hex;
+            string cfdir = path_canon(getConfDir());
+            path_catslash(cfdir);
+            MD5String(cfdir, digest);
+            MD5HexPrint(digest, hex);
+            fn =  path_cat(base, "recoll-" + hex + "-index.pid");
+            goto out;
         }
-    }
-    if (p) {
-        string base = path_canon(p);
-        string digest, hex;
-        string cfdir = path_canon(getConfDir());
-        path_catslash(cfdir);
-        MD5String(cfdir, digest);
-        MD5HexPrint(digest, hex);
-        fn =  path_cat(base, "recoll-" + hex + "-index.pid");
-        goto out;
-    }
 #endif // ! _WIN32
     
-    fn = path_cat(getCacheDir(), "index.pid");
+        fn = path_cat(getCacheDir(), "index.pid");
 out:
-    LOGINF("RclConfig: pid/lock file: " << fn << "\n");
+        LOGINF("RclConfig: pid/lock file: " << fn << "\n");
+    }
     return fn;
 }