diff --git a/common/pid.c b/common/pid.c
index 7bd4b8db..41793871 100644
--- a/common/pid.c
+++ b/common/pid.c
@@ -39,8 +39,7 @@ npid_t PID;
 void init_common_PID (void) {
   if (!PID.pid) {
     int p = getpid ();
-    assert (!(p & 0xffff0000));
-    PID.pid = p;
+    PID.pid = (unsigned short) (p & 0xffff);
   }
   if (!PID.utime) {
     PID.utime = time (0);