diff --git a/src/client/toks_client_acquire.c b/src/client/toks_client_acquire.c
index ea0783f..51e38b9 100644
--- a/src/client/toks_client_acquire.c
+++ b/src/client/toks_client_acquire.c
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ int32_t toks_client_acquire(struct toks_driver_ctx * dctx)
 	if (toks_get_driver_tokpid(dctx)) {
 		msg.data.ipcinfo.ctrlsvc.keys.reserved = toks_get_driver_tokpid(dctx);
 		msg.data.ipcinfo.ctrlsvc.options       = TOKS_OPT_FRAMEWORK_PID;
+	} else {
+		msg.data.ipcinfo.ctrlsvc.keys.reserved = toks_get_driver_tsyspid(dctx);
 	}
 
 	if (refstr && (reflen = toks_strlen(refstr))) {
diff --git a/src/driver/toks_driver_ctx.c b/src/driver/toks_driver_ctx.c
index fc63806..dc3df1f 100644
--- a/src/driver/toks_driver_ctx.c
+++ b/src/driver/toks_driver_ctx.c
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ int toks_get_driver_ctx(
 	struct argv_entry *		entry;
 	struct argv_entry *		uuid;
 	struct argv_entry *		pid;
+	struct argv_entry *		syspid;
 	struct argv_entry *		msecs;
 	struct toks_token_string	key;
 	size_t				keylen;
@@ -261,6 +262,7 @@ int toks_get_driver_ctx(
 	const char *			ch;
 	int				ntokens;
 	int32_t				tokpid;
+	int32_t				tsyspid;
 	int64_t				timeout;
 	void *				hkernel32;
 	char *				targv[TOKS_SARGV_ELEMENTS];
@@ -289,6 +291,7 @@ int toks_get_driver_ctx(
 
 	uuid    = 0;
 	tokpid  = 0;
+	tsyspid  = 0;
 	keylen  = 0;
 	ntokens = 0;
 	timeout = (-1);
@@ -343,6 +346,16 @@ int toks_get_driver_ctx(
 							tokpid = tokpid * 10 + (*ch - '0');
 					break;
 
+				case TAG_SYSPID:
+					syspid = entry;
+
+					for (tsyspid=0, ch=entry->arg; *ch && (tsyspid>=0); ch++)
+						if ((*ch < '0') || (*ch >'9'))
+							tsyspid = -1;
+						else
+							tsyspid = tsyspid * 10 + (*ch - '0');
+					break;
+
 				case TAG_TIMEOUT:
 					msecs = entry;
 
@@ -407,11 +420,19 @@ int toks_get_driver_ctx(
 	if ((cctx.drvflags & TOKS_DRIVER_MODE_CLIENT) && (tokpid < 0)) {
 		if (flags & TOKS_DRIVER_VERBOSITY_ERRORS)
 			toks_dprintf(STDERR_FILENO,
-				"%s: error: %s is not a valid process id.",
+				"%s: error: %s is not a valid framework process id.",
 				program,pid->arg);
 		return toks_get_driver_ctx_fail(meta);
 	}
 
+	if ((cctx.drvflags & TOKS_DRIVER_MODE_CLIENT) && (tsyspid < 0)) {
+		if (flags & TOKS_DRIVER_VERBOSITY_ERRORS)
+			toks_dprintf(STDERR_FILENO,
+				"%s: error: %s is not a valid system process id.",
+				program,syspid->arg);
+		return toks_get_driver_ctx_fail(meta);
+	}
+
 	if ((cctx.drvflags & TOKS_DRIVER_MODE_CLIENT) && (timeout < (-1))) {
 		if (flags & TOKS_DRIVER_VERBOSITY_ERRORS)
 			toks_dprintf(STDERR_FILENO,
@@ -487,6 +508,7 @@ int toks_get_driver_ctx(
 				&ctx->ticks.pcfreq);
 
 	ctx->tokpid             = tokpid;
+	ctx->tsyspid            = tsyspid;
 	ctx->ntokens            = ntokens;
 	ctx->timeout            = timeout;
 	ctx->ctx.program	= program;
diff --git a/src/internal/toksvc_driver_impl.h b/src/internal/toksvc_driver_impl.h
index 2057126..c4350d7 100644
--- a/src/internal/toksvc_driver_impl.h
+++ b/src/internal/toksvc_driver_impl.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ enum app_tags {
 	TAG_TIMEOUT,
 	TAG_REFSTR,
 	TAG_PID,
+	TAG_SYSPID,
 };
 
 struct toks_ticks {
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ struct toks_driver_ctx_impl {
 	int			nwaiters;
 	int			ntokens;
 	int			tokpid;
+	int			tsyspid;
 	nt_guid			uuid;
 };
 
@@ -211,6 +213,13 @@ static inline int toks_get_driver_tokpid(const struct toks_driver_ctx * dctx)
 	return ictx->tokpid;
 }
 
+static inline int toks_get_driver_tsyspid(const struct toks_driver_ctx * dctx)
+{
+	struct toks_driver_ctx_impl * ictx;
+	ictx = toks_get_driver_ictx(dctx);
+	return ictx->tsyspid;
+}
+
 static inline char * toks_get_driver_refstr(const struct toks_driver_ctx * dctx)
 {
 	struct toks_driver_ctx_impl * ictx;
diff --git a/src/skin/toks_skin_default.c b/src/skin/toks_skin_default.c
index a759589..6012a97 100644
--- a/src/skin/toks_skin_default.c
+++ b/src/skin/toks_skin_default.c
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ const struct argv_option toks_default_options[] = {
 				"assign the token to the framework process "
 				"identified by %s"},
 
+	{"syspid",		'P',TAG_SYSPID,ARGV_OPTARG_REQUIRED,0,0,"<syspid>",
+				"assign the token to the system process "
+				"identified by %s"},
+
 	{"release",		'r',TAG_RELEASE,ARGV_OPTARG_REQUIRED,0,0,"<token>",
 				"release the key specified by %s."},