diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 90a6c134..dbab5a2e 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ wmaker_SOURCES = 	\
 	menu.c \
 	menu.h \
 	misc.c \
+	osdep/linux.c \
 	monitor.c \
 	motif.c \
 	motif.h \
diff --git a/src/misc.c b/src/misc.c
index 3e5a8cfc..a7de66b1 100644
--- a/src/misc.c
+++ b/src/misc.c
@@ -1073,51 +1073,6 @@ char *StrConcatDot(char *a, char *b)
 	return str;
 }
 
-#define MAX_CMD_SIZE 4096
-
-Bool GetCommandForPid(int pid, char ***argv, int *argc)
-{
-	static char buf[MAX_CMD_SIZE];
-	FILE *fPtr;
-	int count, i, j;
-	Bool ok = False;
-
-	sprintf(buf, "/proc/%d/cmdline", pid);
-	fPtr = fopen(buf, "r");
-	if (fPtr) {
-		count = read(fileno(fPtr), buf, MAX_CMD_SIZE);
-		if (count > 0) {
-			buf[count - 1] = 0;
-			for (i = 0, *argc = 0; i < count; i++) {
-				if (buf[i] == 0) {
-					(*argc)++;
-				}
-			}
-			if ((*argc) == 0) {
-				*argv = NULL;
-				ok = False;
-			} else {
-				*argv = (char **)wmalloc(sizeof(char *) * (*argc));
-				(*argv)[0] = buf;
-				for (i = 0, j = 1; i < count; i++) {
-					if (buf[i] != 0)
-						continue;
-					if (i < count - 1) {
-						(*argv)[j++] = &buf[i + 1];
-					}
-					if (j == *argc) {
-						break;
-					}
-				}
-				ok = True;
-			}
-		}
-		fclose(fPtr);
-	}
-
-	return ok;
-}
-
 static char *getCommandForWindow(Window win, int elements)
 {
 	char **argv, *command = NULL;
diff --git a/src/osdep/linux.c b/src/osdep/linux.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f87a3cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/osdep/linux.c
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <WINGs/WUtil.h>
+
+#include "../wconfig.h"
+
+/*
+ * copy argc and argv for an existing process identified by `pid'
+ * into suitable storage given in ***argv and *argc.
+ *
+ * returns 0 for failure, in which case argc := 0 and arv := NULL
+ * returns 1 for success
+ */
+Bool GetCommandForPid(int pid, char ***argv, int *argc)
+{
+	static char buf[_POSIX_ARG_MAX];
+	int fd, i, j;
+	ssize_t count;
+
+	*argv = NULL;
+	*argc = 0;
+
+	/* cmdline is a flattened series of null-terminated strings */
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "/proc/%d/cmdline", pid);
+	if ((fd = open(buf, O_RDONLY)) == -1)
+		return False;
+
+	/* XXX: read/close errors */
+	if ((count = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf))) == -1) {
+		close(fd);
+		return False;
+	}
+	close(fd);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
+		if (buf[i] == '\0')
+			(*argc)++;
+
+	if (*argc == 0)
+		return False;
+
+	*argv = (char **)wmalloc(sizeof(char *) * *argc);
+	(*argv)[0] = buf;
+
+	/* go through buf, set argv[$next] to the beginning of each string */
+	for (i = 0, j = 1; i < count; i++) {
+		if (buf[i] != '\0')
+			continue;
+		if (i < count - 1)
+			(*argv)[j++] = &buf[i + 1];
+		if (j == *argc)
+			break;
+	}
+
+	return True;
+}