diff --git a/ctdb/config/events.d/50.samba b/ctdb/config/events.d/50.samba
index ed1136fd8de..c67dbda684a 100755
--- a/ctdb/config/events.d/50.samba
+++ b/ctdb/config/events.d/50.samba
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ case $cmd in
 	# start Samba service. Start it reniced, as under very heavy load 
 	# the number of smbd processes will mean that it leaves few cycles for
 	# anything else
-	nice service smb start
+	nice_service smb start
 	;;
 	
      takeip)
diff --git a/ctdb/config/functions b/ctdb/config/functions
index 2e79c3330a5..9b334225e50 100644
--- a/ctdb/config/functions
+++ b/ctdb/config/functions
@@ -28,6 +28,19 @@ service() {
   fi
 }
 
+######################################################
+# simulate /sbin/service (niced) on platforms that don't have it
+nice_service() { 
+  service_name="$1"
+  op="$2"
+  if [ -x /sbin/service ]; then
+      nice /sbin/service "$service_name" "$op"
+  elif [ -x /etc/init.d/$service_name ]; then
+      nice /etc/init.d/$service_name "$op"
+  elif [ -x /etc/rc.d/init.d/$service_name ]; then
+      nice /etc/rc.d/init.d/$service_name "$op"
+  fi
+}
 
 ######################################################
 # wait for a command to return a zero exit status