diff -urN mpich2-1.0.8/src/pm/mpd/Makefile.in mpich2-1.0.8_p/src/pm/mpd/Makefile.in
--- mpich2-1.0.8/src/pm/mpd/Makefile.in	2008-11-01 16:55:07.409787116 -0400
+++ mpich2-1.0.8_p/src/pm/mpd/Makefile.in	2008-11-04 20:37:19.510506041 -0500
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
 	$(C_LINK) -o mpdroot ${mpdroot_OBJECTS} $(LIBS)
 
 mpdroot.o: ${srcdir}/mpdroot.c ${srcdir}/mpdroot.h mpdconf.h
-	${C_COMPILE} -c  $< 
+	${C_COMPILE} -DSYSCONFDIR=\"@sysconfdir@\" -c  $< 
 
 # The following lines provide the right libraries for all example programs
 .c:
@@ -136,7 +136,10 @@
 	fi
 	-@for cmd in ${PYTHON_SOURCE} ; do \
 	    if [ ! -s $(srcdir)/$$cmd.py ] ; then continue ; fi ; \
-	    sed -e 's#/usr/bin/env python.*#/usr/bin/env ${PYTHON}#' ${srcdir}/$$cmd.py > $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py ; \
+	    sed \
+			-e 's#/usr/bin/env python.*#/usr/bin/env ${PYTHON}#' \
+			-e 's,/etc/mpd.conf,@sysconfdir@/mpd.conf,g' \
+			${srcdir}/$$cmd.py > $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py ; \
 	    ${INSTALL} -m 755 $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py $(DESTDIR)${PYTHONDIR}/$$cmd.py; \
 	    ( rm -f $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0 ) ; \
 	done
@@ -218,7 +221,7 @@
 
 mpich2-mpdroot.o: ${srcdir}/mpdroot.c ${srcdir}/mpdroot.h mpdconf.h
 	${INSTALL} -m 644 ${srcdir}/mpdroot.c mpich2-mpdroot.c
-	${C_COMPILE} -c mpich2-mpdroot.c
+	${C_COMPILE} -DSYSCONFDIR=\"@sysconfdir@\" -c mpich2-mpdroot.c
 	rm -f mpich2-mpdroot.c
 
 # A special alternate installation target when using multiple process managers
@@ -238,7 +241,10 @@
 	fi
 	for cmd in ${PYTHON_SOURCE} ; do \
 	    if [ ! -s $(srcdir)/$$cmd.py ] ; then continue ; fi ; \
-	    sed -e 's#/usr/bin/env python.*#/usr/bin/env ${PYTHON}#' ${srcdir}/$$cmd.py > $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py ; \
+	    sed \
+			-e 's#/usr/bin/env python.*#/usr/bin/env ${PYTHON}#' \
+			-e 's,/etc/mpd.conf,@sysconfdir@/mpd.conf,g' \
+			${srcdir}/$$cmd.py > $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py ; \
 	    ${INSTALL} -m 755 $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py $(DESTDIR)${PYTHONDIR}/$$cmd.py; \
 	    ( rm -f $(DESTDIR)${bindir}/temp$$cmd.py >/dev/null 2>&1 || exit 0 ) ; \
 	done
diff -urN mpich2-1.0.8/src/pm/mpd/mpdlib.py mpich2-1.0.8_p/src/pm/mpd/mpdlib.py
--- mpich2-1.0.8/src/pm/mpd/mpdlib.py	2007-11-08 18:47:44.000000000 -0500
+++ mpich2-1.0.8_p/src/pm/mpd/mpdlib.py	2008-11-04 20:40:36.812894529 -0500
@@ -1341,11 +1341,11 @@
             if os.environ.has_key(k):
                 self[('env',k)] = os.environ[k]
     def get_parms_from_rcfile(self,parmsToOverride,errIfMissingFile=0):
-        if os.environ.has_key('MPD_CONF_FILE'):
+        if os.environ.has_key('MPD_CONF_FILE') and os.access(os.environ['MPD_CONF_FILE'], os.R_OK):
             parmsRCFilename = os.environ['MPD_CONF_FILE']
         elif hasattr(os,'getuid')  and  os.getuid() == 0:    # if ROOT
             parmsRCFilename = os.path.abspath('/etc/mpd.conf')
-        elif os.environ.has_key('HOME'):
+        elif os.environ.has_key('HOME') and os.access(os.path.join(os.environ['HOME'],'.mpd.conf'), os.R_OK):
             parmsRCFilename = os.path.join(os.environ['HOME'],'.mpd.conf')
         elif os.environ.has_key('HOMEPATH'):    # e.g. win32
             parmsRCFilename = os.path.join(os.environ['HOMEPATH'],'.mpd.conf')
diff -urN mpich2-1.0.8/src/pm/mpd/mpdroot.c mpich2-1.0.8_p/src/pm/mpd/mpdroot.c
--- mpich2-1.0.8/src/pm/mpd/mpdroot.c	2007-11-02 18:50:19.000000000 -0400
+++ mpich2-1.0.8_p/src/pm/mpd/mpdroot.c	2008-11-07 13:45:10.560017904 -0500
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     struct passwd *pwent;
     char input_line[NAME_LEN+1], secretword[NAME_LEN+1];
     FILE *conf_file;
+    char *mpdconf_path = NULL;
 
     if ((pwent = getpwuid(getuid())) == NULL)    /* for real id */
     {
@@ -26,10 +27,32 @@
         exit(-1);
     }
 
-    conf_file = fopen("/etc/mpd.conf","r");
+    /*
+     * We look for a readable mpd.conf in the following order.
+     * - MPD_CONF_FILE set in environment
+     * - .mpd.conf in the user's home directory
+     * - The system wide default in SYSCONFDIR/mpd.conf
+     */
+    mpdconf_path = getenv("MPD_CONF_FILE");
+    if ( ! (mpdconf_path && access( mpdconf_path, R_OK ) == 0) ){
+        /* By far, the largest we'll need */
+        size_t mpdconf_path_len = strlen(pwent->pw_dir) \
+            + strlen(SYSCONFDIR) + strlen("/.mpd.conf");
+
+        mpdconf_path = (char*) malloc( sizeof(char) * mpdconf_path_len ); 
+        if ( ! mpdconf_path ){
+            fprintf( stderr, "%s:  Failed to allocate a buffer for path to mpd.conf\n", argv[0]);
+            exit(-1);
+        }
+        snprintf( mpdconf_path, mpdconf_path_len-1, "%s/.mpd.conf", pwent->pw_dir );
+        if ( access( mpdconf_path, R_OK ) != 0 )
+            snprintf( mpdconf_path, mpdconf_path_len-1, "%s/mpd.conf", SYSCONFDIR );
+    }
+    conf_file = fopen( mpdconf_path, "r");
+
     if (conf_file == NULL)
     {
-        printf("%s: open failed for root's mpd conf file",argv[0]);
+        printf("%s: open failed for root's mpd conf file\n",argv[0]);
         exit(-1);
     }
     secretword[0] = '\0';