diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f903669..bd4bca0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-/_source/
\ No newline at end of file
+/_source/
+/data/
diff --git a/couchpotato/core/helpers/variable.py b/couchpotato/core/helpers/variable.py
index 9a4bdc1..493ac79 100644
--- a/couchpotato/core/helpers/variable.py
+++ b/couchpotato/core/helpers/variable.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import platform
 import random
 import re
 import string
+import sys
 
 log = CPLog(__name__)
 
@@ -22,6 +23,10 @@ def getDataDir():
     if 'darwin' in platform.platform().lower():
         return os.path.join(user_dir, 'Library', 'Application Support', 'CouchPotato')
 
+    # FreeBSD
+    if 'freebsd' in sys.platform:
+        return os.path.join('/usr/local/', 'couchpotato', 'data')
+
     # Linux
     return os.path.join(user_dir, '.couchpotato')
 
diff --git a/init/freebsd b/init/freebsd
index e3cf408..eeba51d 100644
--- a/init/freebsd
+++ b/init/freebsd
@@ -31,14 +31,27 @@ load_rc_config ${name}
 : ${couchpotato_user:="_sabnzbd"}
 : ${couchpotato_dir:="/usr/local/couchpotato"}
 : ${couchpotato_chdir:="${couchpotato_dir}"}
-: ${couchpotato_pid:="/var/run/couchpotato.pid"}
+: ${couchpotato_pid:="${couchpotato_dir}/couchpotato.pid"}
+: ${couchpotato_conf:="${couchpotato_dir}/data/settings.conf"}
+
+WGET="/usr/local/bin/wget" # You need wget for this script to safely shutdown CouchPotato.
+if [ -e "${couchpotato_conf}" ]; then
+        HOST=`grep -A14 "\[core\]" "${couchpotato_conf}"|egrep "^host"|perl -wple 's/^host = (.*)$/$1/'`
+        PORT=`grep -A14 "\[core\]" "${couchpotato_conf}"|egrep "^port"|perl -wple 's/^port = (.*)$/$1/'`
+        CPAPI=`grep -A14 "\[core\]" "${couchpotato_conf}"|egrep "^api_key"|perl -wple 's/^api_key = (.*)$/$1/'`
+fi
 
-pidfile="${couchpotato_pid}"
 status_cmd="${name}_status"
 stop_cmd="${name}_stop"
 
 command="/usr/sbin/daemon"
-command_args="-f -p ${couchpotato_pid} python ${couchpotato_dir}/CouchPotato.py ${couchpotato_flags} --pid_file=${couchpotato_pid}"
+command_args="-f -p ${couchpotato_pid} python ${couchpotato_dir}/CouchPotato.py ${couchpotato_flags}"
+
+# Check for wget and refuse to start without it.
+if [ ! -x "${WGET}" ]; then
+  warn "couchpotato not started: You need wget to safely shut down CouchPotato."
+  exit 1
+fi
 
 # Ensure user is root when running this script.
 if [ `id -u` != "0" ]; then
@@ -55,17 +68,17 @@ verify_couchpotato_pid() {
 
 # Try to stop CouchPotato cleanly by calling shutdown over http.
 couchpotato_stop() {
-    
+    if [ ! -e "${couchpotato_conf}" ]; then
+        echo "CouchPotato's settings file does not exist. Try starting CouchPotato, as this should create the file."
+        exit 1
+    fi
     echo "Stopping $name"
     verify_couchpotato_pid
-
+    ${WGET} -O - -q "http://${HOST}:${PORT}/api/${CPAPI}/app.shutdown/" >/dev/null
     if [ -n "${pid}" ]; then
-      kill -SIGTERM ${pid} 2> /dev/null
       wait_for_pids ${pid}
-      kill -9 ${pid} 2> /dev/null
       echo "Stopped"
     fi
-
 }
 
 couchpotato_status() {