diff --git a/cmd/web.go b/cmd/web.go
index 6efadb9419..f0e1b16e7f 100644
--- a/cmd/web.go
+++ b/cmd/web.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ and it takes care of all the other things for you`,
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "pid, P",
-			Value: "/var/run/gitea.pid",
+			Value: setting.PIDFile,
 			Usage: "Custom pid file path",
 		},
 	},
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ func runWeb(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 
 	// Set pid file setting
 	if ctx.IsSet("pid") {
-		setting.CustomPID = ctx.String("pid")
+		setting.PIDFile = ctx.String("pid")
+		setting.WritePIDFile = true
 	}
 
 	// Perform global initialization
diff --git a/contrib/init/debian/gitea b/contrib/init/debian/gitea
index b7911f106e..2246309440 100644
--- a/contrib/init/debian/gitea
+++ b/contrib/init/debian/gitea
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin
 DESC="Gitea - Git with a cup of tea"
 NAME=gitea
 SERVICEVERBOSE=yes
-PIDFILE=/var/run/$NAME.pid
+PIDFILE=/run/$NAME.pid
 SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME
 WORKINGDIR=/var/lib/$NAME
 DAEMON=/usr/local/bin/$NAME
diff --git a/contrib/init/gentoo/gitea b/contrib/init/gentoo/gitea
index c40fc93f5f..e423eae54d 100644
--- a/contrib/init/gentoo/gitea
+++ b/contrib/init/gentoo/gitea
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ start_stop_daemon_args="--user ${USER} --chdir ${DIR}"
 command="/usr/local/bin/gitea"
 command_args="web -c /etc/gitea/app.ini"
 command_background=yes
-pidfile=/var/run/gitea.pid
+pidfile=/run/gitea.pid
 
 depend()
 {
diff --git a/contrib/init/suse/gitea b/contrib/init/suse/gitea
index 23178583ff..6391bedaf8 100644
--- a/contrib/init/suse/gitea
+++ b/contrib/init/suse/gitea
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ case "$1" in
 
 		# Return value is slightly different for the status command:
 		# 0 - service up and running
-		# 1 - service dead, but /var/run/  pid  file exists
+		# 1 - service dead, but /run/  pid  file exists
 		# 2 - service dead, but /var/lock/ lock file exists
 		# 3 - service not running (unused)
 		# 4 - service status unknown :-(
diff --git a/docs/content/doc/installation/from-source.en-us.md b/docs/content/doc/installation/from-source.en-us.md
index 9c7016577f..ef116afc5a 100644
--- a/docs/content/doc/installation/from-source.en-us.md
+++ b/docs/content/doc/installation/from-source.en-us.md
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ using the `LDFLAGS` environment variable for `make`. The appropriate settings ar
 * For `CustomConf` you should use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.CustomConf=conf.ini\"`
 * For `AppWorkPath` you should use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.AppWorkPath=working-path\"`
 * For `StaticRootPath` you should use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.StaticRootPath=static-root-path\"`
+* To change the default PID file location use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.PIDFile=/run/gitea.pid\"`
 
 Add as many of the strings with their preceding `-X` to the `LDFLAGS` variable and run `make build`
 with the appropriate `TAGS` as above.
diff --git a/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md b/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md
index 3715be7cbd..e458b11ba4 100644
--- a/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md
+++ b/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Starts the server:
 - Examples:
     - `gitea web`
     - `gitea web --port 80`
-    - `gitea web --config /etc/gitea.ini --pid /var/run/gitea.pid`
+    - `gitea web --config /etc/gitea.ini --pid /some/custom/gitea.pid`
 - Notes:
     - Gitea should not be run as root. To bind to a port below 1024, you can use setcap on
       Linux: `sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' /path/to/gitea`. This will need to be
diff --git a/modules/setting/setting.go b/modules/setting/setting.go
index d4ce13079a..d77df2d75f 100644
--- a/modules/setting/setting.go
+++ b/modules/setting/setting.go
@@ -382,7 +382,8 @@ var (
 	Cfg           *ini.File
 	CustomPath    string // Custom directory path
 	CustomConf    string
-	CustomPID     string
+	PIDFile       = "/var/run/gitea.pid"
+	WritePIDFile  bool
 	ProdMode      bool
 	RunUser       string
 	IsWindows     bool
@@ -535,8 +536,8 @@ func SetCustomPathAndConf(providedCustom, providedConf, providedWorkPath string)
 func NewContext() {
 	Cfg = ini.Empty()
 
-	if len(CustomPID) > 0 {
-		createPIDFile(CustomPID)
+	if WritePIDFile && len(PIDFile) > 0 {
+		createPIDFile(PIDFile)
 	}
 
 	if com.IsFile(CustomConf) {