diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 178f49b6..c8afce5d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ ifdef CONFIG_AO
 SRCS += audio_ao.c
 endif
 
+ifdef CONFIG_AVAHI
+SRCS += avahi.c
+endif
+
 # default target
 all: shairport
 
diff --git a/avahi.c b/avahi.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f38c4129
--- /dev/null
+++ b/avahi.c
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/*
+ * Embedded Avahi client. This file is part of Shairport.
+ * Copyright (c) James Laird 2013
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
+ * obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
+ * files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without
+ * restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
+ * copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
+ * sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
+ * Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+ * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+ * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
+ * OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+ * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
+ * HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
+ * WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+ * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
+ * OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#include <avahi-client/client.h>
+#include <avahi-client/publish.h>
+#include <avahi-common/thread-watch.h>
+#include <avahi-common/error.h>
+
+#include <string.h>
+#include "common.h"
+#include "mdns.h"
+
+static AvahiClient *client = NULL;
+static AvahiEntryGroup *group = NULL;
+static AvahiThreadedPoll *tpoll = NULL;
+
+static char *name = NULL;
+
+static void egroup_callback(AvahiEntryGroup *g,
+                            AvahiEntryGroupState state,
+                            AVAHI_GCC_UNUSED void *userdata) {
+    if (state==AVAHI_ENTRY_GROUP_COLLISION)
+        die("service name already exists on network!");
+    if (state==AVAHI_ENTRY_GROUP_FAILURE)
+        die("avahi entry group failure!");
+}
+
+static void register_service(AvahiClient *c) {
+    debug(1, "avahi: register_service\n");
+    if (!group)
+        group = avahi_entry_group_new(c, egroup_callback, NULL);
+    if (!group)
+        die("avahi_entry_group_new failed");
+
+    if (!avahi_entry_group_is_empty(group))
+        return;
+
+    int ret;
+    ret = avahi_entry_group_add_service(group,
+                                        AVAHI_IF_UNSPEC,
+                                        AVAHI_PROTO_UNSPEC,
+                                        0,
+                                        name,
+                                        "_raop._tcp",
+                                        NULL,
+                                        NULL,
+                                        config.port,
+                                        MDNS_RECORD,
+                                        NULL);
+    if (ret < 0)
+        die("avahi_entry_group_add_service failed");
+
+    ret = avahi_entry_group_commit(group);
+    if (ret < 0)
+        die("avahi_entry_group_commit failed");
+}
+
+static void client_callback(AvahiClient *c,
+                            AvahiClientState state,
+                            AVAHI_GCC_UNUSED void * userdata) {
+    switch (state) {
+        case AVAHI_CLIENT_S_REGISTERING:
+            if (group)
+                avahi_entry_group_reset(group);
+            break;
+
+        case AVAHI_CLIENT_S_RUNNING:
+            register_service(c);
+            break;
+
+        case AVAHI_CLIENT_FAILURE:
+        case AVAHI_CLIENT_S_COLLISION:
+            die("avahi client failure");
+
+        case AVAHI_CLIENT_CONNECTING:
+            break;
+    }
+}
+
+int avahi_register(char *srvname) {
+    debug(1, "avahi: avahi_register\n");
+    name = strdup(srvname);
+
+    int err;
+    if (!(tpoll = avahi_threaded_poll_new())) {
+        warn("couldn't create avahi threaded tpoll!");
+        return 0;
+    }
+    if (!(client = avahi_client_new(avahi_threaded_poll_get(tpoll), 
+                                    0,
+                                    client_callback,
+                                    NULL,
+                                    &err))) {
+        warn("couldn't create avahi client: %s!", avahi_strerror(err));
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    if (avahi_threaded_poll_start(tpoll) < 0) {
+        warn("couldn't start avahi tpoll thread");
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    return 1;
+}
+
+void avahi_unregister(void) {
+    debug(1, "avahi: avahi_unregister\n");
+    if (tpoll)
+        avahi_threaded_poll_stop(tpoll);
+    tpoll = NULL;
+
+    if (name)
+        free(name);
+    name = NULL;
+}
+
+
diff --git a/avahi.h b/avahi.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0ad53ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/avahi.h
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#ifndef _AVAHI_H
+#define _AVAHI_H
+
+int avahi_register(char *srvname);
+void avahi_unregister(void);
+
+#endif // _AVAHI_H
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 5ee334a6..1b046002 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -26,6 +26,16 @@ else
     echo libao not found
 fi
 
+if pkg-config avahi-client 2>/dev/null; then
+    CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} `pkg-config --cflags avahi-client`"
+    LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS} `pkg-config --libs avahi-client`"
+    echo "#define CONFIG_AVAHI" >> config.h
+    echo "CONFIG_AVAHI=yes" >> config.mk
+    echo avahi-client found
+else
+    echo avahi-client not found
+fi
+
 echo "CFLAGS+=${CFLAGS}" >> config.mk
 echo "LDFLAGS+=${LDFLAGS}" >> config.mk
 
diff --git a/mdns.c b/mdns.c
index a593316c..66d88363 100644
--- a/mdns.c
+++ b/mdns.c
@@ -29,25 +29,26 @@
 #include <memory.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include "config.h"
 #include "common.h"
+#include "mdns.h"
+#ifdef CONFIG_AVAHI
+#include "avahi.h"
+#endif
 
 int mdns_pid = 0;
 
 void mdns_unregister(void) {
+#ifdef CONFIG_AVAHI
+    avahi_unregister();
+#endif
+
     if (mdns_pid)
         kill(mdns_pid, SIGTERM);
     mdns_pid = 0;
 }
 
 void mdns_register(void) {
-    if (mdns_pid)
-        die("attempted to register with mDNS twice");
-
-    // XXX todo: native avahi support, if available at compile time
-
-    if ((mdns_pid = fork()))
-        return;
-
     char *mdns_apname = malloc(strlen(config.apname) + 14);
     char *p = mdns_apname;
     int i;
@@ -58,15 +59,20 @@ void mdns_register(void) {
     *p++ = '@';
     strcpy(p, config.apname);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_AVAHI
+    if (avahi_register(mdns_apname))
+        return;
+    warn("avahi_register failed, falling back to external programs");
+#endif
+
+    if ((mdns_pid = fork()))
+        return;
+
     char mdns_port[6];
     sprintf(mdns_port, "%d", config.port);
 
-#define RECORD  "tp=UDP", "sm=false", "ek=1", "et=0,1", "cn=0,1", "ch=2", \
-                "ss=16", "sr=44100", "vn=3", "txtvers=1", \
-                config.password ? "pw=true" : "pw=false"
-
     char *argv[] = {
-        NULL, mdns_apname, "_raop._tcp", mdns_port, RECORD, NULL
+        NULL, mdns_apname, "_raop._tcp", mdns_port, MDNS_RECORD, NULL
     };
 
     argv[0] = "avahi-publish-service";
@@ -76,7 +82,7 @@ void mdns_register(void) {
     execvp(argv[0], argv);
 
     char *mac_argv[] = {"dns-sd", "-R", mdns_apname, "_raop._tcp", ".",
-                        mdns_port, RECORD, NULL};
+                        mdns_port, MDNS_RECORD, NULL};
     execvp(mac_argv[0], mac_argv);
 
     die("Could not establish mDNS advertisement!");
diff --git a/mdns.h b/mdns.h
index 9827c0c3..9fc5792f 100644
--- a/mdns.h
+++ b/mdns.h
@@ -6,4 +6,8 @@ extern int mdns_pid;
 void mdns_unregister(void);
 void mdns_register(void);
 
+#define MDNS_RECORD  "tp=UDP", "sm=false", "ek=1", "et=0,1", "cn=0,1", "ch=2", \
+                "ss=16", "sr=44100", "vn=3", "txtvers=1", \
+                config.password ? "pw=true" : "pw=false"
+
 #endif // _MDNS_H