diff --git a/bin/cli b/bin/cli
index 107d0a9ba..002288648 100755
--- a/bin/cli
+++ b/bin/cli
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 const program = require('commander');
 const pkg = require('../package.json');
 const dotenv = require('dotenv');
-const fs = require('fs');
 const util = require('../util');
 
 //==============================================================================
@@ -32,36 +31,7 @@ if (program.config) {
 
 // If the `--pid` flag is used, put the current pid there.
 if (program.pid) {
-  let pidPath = program.pid;
-
-  if (!/\//.test(pidPath)) {
-    if (!/\.pid/.test(pidPath)) {
-      pidPath += '.pid';
-    }
-    pidPath = `/tmp/${pidPath}`;
-  }
-
-  fs.writeFile(pidPath, `${process.pid.toString()}\n`, (err) => {
-    if (err) {
-      console.error(`Can't write PID file: ${err}`);
-      throw err;
-    }
-
-    // Add the cleanup for the fs onto the shutdown.
-    util.onshutdown([
-      () => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-
-        // Remove the pid file.
-        fs.unlink(pidPath, (err) => {
-          if (err) {
-            return reject(err);
-          }
-
-          return resolve();
-        });
-      })
-    ]);
-  });
+  util.pid(program.pid);
 }
 
 // Perform rewrites to the runtime environment variables based on the contents
diff --git a/util.js b/util.js
index 261b66f85..585cfdcb7 100644
--- a/util.js
+++ b/util.js
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 const debug = require('debug')('talk:util');
+const fs = require('fs');
+
 const util = module.exports = {};
 
 /**
@@ -45,6 +47,43 @@ util.onshutdown = (jobs) => {
   util.toshutdown = util.toshutdown.concat(jobs);
 };
 
+/**
+ * Register a PID file to be maintained for the lifespan of the process.
+ * @param  {String} path path to the PID file to create
+ */
+util.pid = (path) => {
+  if (!/\//.test(path)) {
+    if (!/\.pid/.test(path)) {
+      path += '.pid';
+    }
+    path = `/tmp/${path}`;
+  }
+
+  const pid = `${process.pid.toString()}\n`;
+
+  fs.writeFile(path, pid, (err) => {
+    if (err) {
+      console.error(`Can't write PID file: ${err}`);
+      throw err;
+    }
+
+    // Add the cleanup for the fs onto the shutdown.
+    util.onshutdown([
+      () => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+
+        // Remove the pid file.
+        fs.unlink(path, (err) => {
+          if (err) {
+            return reject(err);
+          }
+
+          return resolve();
+        });
+      })
+    ]);
+  });
+};
+
 // Attach to the SIGTERM + SIGINT handles to ensure a clean shutdown in the
 // event that we have an external event. SIGUSR2 is called when the app is asked
 // to be 'killed', same procedure here.