diff --git a/puppet/zulip/manifests/profile/memcached.pp b/puppet/zulip/manifests/profile/memcached.pp
index ad3c5226f1..ec049a96b2 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/manifests/profile/memcached.pp
+++ b/puppet/zulip/manifests/profile/memcached.pp
@@ -99,9 +99,16 @@ Environment=SASL_CONF_PATH=/etc/sasl2
     mode    => '0644',
     content => template('zulip/memcached.conf.template.erb'),
   }
+  file { '/run/memcached':
+    ensure  => 'directory',
+    owner   => 'memcache',
+    group   => 'memcache',
+    mode    => '0755',
+    require => Package[$memcached_packages],
+  }
   service { 'memcached':
     ensure    => running,
     subscribe => File['/etc/memcached.conf'],
-    require   => Class['zulip::systemd_daemon_reload'];
+    require   => [File['/run/memcached'], Class['zulip::systemd_daemon_reload']],
   }
 }
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/templates/memcached.conf.template.erb b/puppet/zulip/templates/memcached.conf.template.erb
index 64a57f6fa3..ba8f8acc78 100644
--- a/puppet/zulip/templates/memcached.conf.template.erb
+++ b/puppet/zulip/templates/memcached.conf.template.erb
@@ -46,5 +46,8 @@ logfile /var/log/memcached.log
 # Maximize core file limit
 # -r
 
+# Use a pidfile
+-P /var/run/memcached/memcached.pid
+
 # Enable SASL authentication
 -S