diff --git a/headers/compatibility/bsd/pty.h b/headers/compatibility/bsd/pty.h
index dbb7334caa..7fc8066969 100644
--- a/headers/compatibility/bsd/pty.h
+++ b/headers/compatibility/bsd/pty.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2008, Haiku, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ * Copyright 2008-2010, Haiku, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
  * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
  */
 #ifndef _BSD_PTY_H_
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ __BEGIN_DECLS
 
 extern int		openpty(int* master, int* slave, char* name,
 					struct termios* termAttrs, struct winsize* windowSize);
+extern int		login_pty(int fd);
+extern pid_t	forkpty(int* master, char* name,
+					struct termios* termAttrs, struct winsize* windowSize);
 
 __END_DECLS
 
diff --git a/headers/posix/termios.h b/headers/posix/termios.h
index 59540629e1..d3073759c5 100644
--- a/headers/posix/termios.h
+++ b/headers/posix/termios.h
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ struct termios {
 #define TCVTIME				(TCGETA + 14)	/* pass in bigtime_t, old value saved */
 #define TIOCGPGRP			(TCGETA + 15)	/* Gets the process group ID of the TTY device */
 #define TIOCSPGRP			(TCGETA + 16)	/* Sets the process group ID ('pgid' in BeOS) */
+#define TIOCSCTTY			(TCGETA + 17)	/* Become controlling TTY */
 
 /* Event codes.  Returned from TCWAITEVENT */
 #define EV_RING			0x0001
diff --git a/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/tty/tty.cpp b/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/tty/tty.cpp
index 7c4341d480..dabaedc3ff 100644
--- a/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/tty/tty.cpp
+++ b/src/add-ons/kernel/drivers/tty/tty.cpp
@@ -1652,6 +1652,24 @@ tty_ioctl(tty_cookie* cookie, uint32 op, void* buffer, size_t length)
 				tty->settings->pgrp_id = groupID;
 			return error;
 		}
+		
+		// become controlling TTY
+		case TIOCSCTTY:
+		{
+			TRACE(("tty: become controlling tty\n"));
+			pid_t processID = getpid();
+			pid_t sessionID = getsid(processID);
+			// Only session leaders can become controlling tty
+			if (processID != sessionID)
+				return B_NOT_ALLOWED;
+			// Check if already controlling tty
+			if (team_get_controlling_tty() == tty->index)
+				return B_OK;
+			tty->settings->session_id = sessionID;
+			tty->settings->pgrp_id = sessionID;
+			team_set_controlling_tty(tty->index);
+			return B_OK;
+		}
 
 		// get and set window size
 
diff --git a/src/libs/bsd/pty.cpp b/src/libs/bsd/pty.cpp
index 623682f1ad..322b5c5815 100644
--- a/src/libs/bsd/pty.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/bsd/pty.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2008, Ingo Weinhold, ingo_weinhold@gmx.de. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright 2010, Jérôme Duval, korli@users.berlios.de. All rights reserved.
  * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
  */
 
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ openpty(int* _master, int* _slave, char* name, struct termios* termAttrs,
 	if (termAttrs != NULL && tcsetattr(master, TCSANOW, termAttrs) != 0
 		|| windowSize != NULL
 			&& ioctl(master, TIOCSWINSZ, windowSize, sizeof(winsize)) != 0) {
+		// TODO we should either close master and slaves and return -1 
+		// 		or we do nothing!
 		close(slave);
 		close(master);
 	}
@@ -43,3 +46,47 @@ openpty(int* _master, int* _slave, char* name, struct termios* termAttrs,
 
 	return 0;
 }
+
+
+int
+login_tty(int fd)
+{
+	setsid();
+	
+	if (ioctl(fd, TIOCSCTTY, NULL) != 0)
+		return -1;
+		
+	dup2(fd, 0);
+	dup2(fd, 1);
+	dup2(fd, 2);
+	
+	close(fd);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+
+pid_t
+forkpty(int* _master, char* name, struct termios* termAttrs,
+	struct winsize* windowSize)
+{
+	int master, slave;
+	if (openpty(&master, &slave, name, termAttrs, windowSize) != 0)
+		return -1;
+		
+	int pid = fork();
+	if (pid < 0) {
+		close(master);
+		close(slave);
+		return -1;
+	}
+	// child
+	if (pid == 0) {
+		close(master);
+		return login_tty(slave);
+	}
+	
+	// parent
+	close (slave);
+	*_master = master;
+	return pid;
+}
diff --git a/src/tests/libs/bsd/Jamfile b/src/tests/libs/bsd/Jamfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b7806ffc26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/libs/bsd/Jamfile
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+SubDir HAIKU_TOP src tests libs bsd ;
+
+UseHeaders [ FDirName $(HAIKU_TOP) headers compatibility bsd ] : true ;
+
+SimpleTest forkpty_test : forkpty.c : libbsd.so ;
+
+
diff --git a/src/tests/libs/bsd/forkpty.c b/src/tests/libs/bsd/forkpty.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4fb94b68d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/libs/bsd/forkpty.c
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/* from http://jwz.livejournal.com/817438.html */
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <pty.h>
+
+static int
+do_fork(void)
+{
+  int fd = -1;
+  pid_t pid;
+
+  if ((pid = forkpty(&fd, NULL, NULL, NULL)) < 0)
+    perror("forkpty");
+  else if (!pid)
+    {
+      printf ("0123456789\n");
+
+      /* #### Uncommenting this makes it work! */
+      /* sleep(20); */
+
+      exit (0);
+    }
+
+  return fd;
+}
+
+
+int
+main (int argc, char **argv)
+{
+  char s[1024];
+  int n;
+  int fd = do_fork();
+
+  /* On 10.4, this prints the whole 10 character line, 1 char per second.
+     On 10.5, it prints 1 character and stops.
+   */
+  do {
+    n = read (fd, s, 1);
+    if (n > 0) fprintf (stderr, "%c", *s);
+    sleep (1);
+  } while (n > 0);
+
+  return 0;
+}
+