diff --git a/pgrep.1 b/pgrep.1
index eba694bb..c933b8fe 100644
--- a/pgrep.1
+++ b/pgrep.1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ pgrep, pkill \- look up or signal processes based on name and other attributes
 
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .na
-\fBpgrep\fR [\fB\-flvx\fR] [\fB\-d\ \fIdelimiter\fR] [\fB\-n\fR|\fB\-o\fR] \
+\fBpgrep\fR [\fB\-cflvx\fR] [\fB\-d\ \fIdelimiter\fR] [\fB\-n\fR|\fB\-o\fR] \
 [\fB\-P\ \fIppid\fR,...] [\fB\-g\ \fIpgrp\fR,...] [\fB\-s\ \fIsid\fR,...] \
 [\fB\-u\ \fIeuid\fR,...] [\fB\-U\ \fIuid\fR,...] [\fB\-G\ \fIgid\fR,...] \
 [\fB\-t\ \fIterm\fR,...] [\fIpattern\fR]
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ will list the processes owned by \fBroot\fP OR \fBdaemon\fP.
 to each process instead of listing them on stdout.
 
 .SH OPTIONS
+\-c
+Suppress normal output; instead print a count of matching processes.
 .TP
 \fB\-d \fIdelimiter\fP
 Sets the string used to delimit each process ID in the output (by
diff --git a/pgrep.c b/pgrep.c
index eec7ac27..1c7f41a5 100644
--- a/pgrep.c
+++ b/pgrep.c
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ static int opt_oldest = 0;
 static int opt_newest = 0;
 static int opt_negate = 0;
 static int opt_exact = 0;
+static int opt_count = 0;
 static int opt_signal = SIGTERM;
 static int opt_lock = 0;
 static int opt_case = 0;
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ static int usage (int opt)
 	if (i_am_pkill)
 		fprintf (fp, "Usage: pkill [-SIGNAL] [-fvx] ");
 	else
-		fprintf (fp, "Usage: pgrep [-flvx] [-d DELIM] ");
+		fprintf (fp, "Usage: pgrep [-cflvx] [-d DELIM] ");
 	fprintf (fp, "[-n|-o] [-P PPIDLIST] [-g PGRPLIST] [-s SIDLIST]\n"
 		 "\t[-u EUIDLIST] [-U UIDLIST] [-G GIDLIST] [-t TERMLIST] "
 		 "[PATTERN]\n");
@@ -567,7 +568,7 @@ static void parse_opts (int argc, char **argv)
 		strcat (opts, "ld:");
 	}
 			
-	strcat (opts, "LF:fnovxP:g:s:u:U:G:t:?V");
+	strcat (opts, "LF:cfnovxP:g:s:u:U:G:t:?V");
 	
 	while ((opt = getopt (argc, argv, opts)) != -1) {
 		switch (opt) {
@@ -615,6 +616,9 @@ static void parse_opts (int argc, char **argv)
 			exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
 //		case 'c':   // Solaris: match by contract ID
 //			break;
+		case 'c':
+			opt_count = 1;
+			break;
 		case 'd':   // Solaris: change the delimiter
 			opt_delim = strdup (optarg);
 			break;
@@ -726,10 +730,14 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 				 procs[i].num, strerror (errno));
 		}
 	} else {
-		if (opt_long)
-			output_strlist(procs,num);
-		else
-			output_numlist(procs,num);
+		if (opt_count) {
+			fprintf(stdout, "%ld\n", num);
+		} else {
+			if (opt_long)
+				output_strlist (procs,num);
+			else
+				output_numlist (procs,num);
+		}
 	}
 	return !num; // exit(EXIT_SUCCESS) if match, otherwise exit(EXIT_FAILURE)
 }