diff -urN asterisk-1.6.2.1-rc1_orig/utils/astcanary.c asterisk-1.6.2.1-rc1/utils/astcanary.c
--- asterisk-1.6.2.1-rc1_orig/utils/astcanary.c	2010-01-14 12:17:47.000000000 +0100
+++ asterisk-1.6.2.1-rc1/utils/astcanary.c	2010-01-14 12:18:41.000000000 +0100
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
 	int fd;
 	/* Run at normal priority */
 	setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, 0, 0);
-	for (;;) {
+	for (;getppid() != 1;) {
 		/* Update the modification times (checked from Asterisk) */
 		if (utime(argv[1], NULL)) {
 			/* Recreate the file if it doesn't exist */
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
 		sleep(5);
 	}
 
-	/* Never reached */
+	/* Reached if asterisk (our parent) process dies - it's chldren (we) are inherited by the init process (pid is 1). */
 	return 0;
 }