diff --git a/Documentation/man1/remail_pipe.rst b/Documentation/man1/remail_pipe.rst
index 1c91604..8077c6a 100644
--- a/Documentation/man1/remail_pipe.rst
+++ b/Documentation/man1/remail_pipe.rst
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ Options
 -h, --help
    Show this help message and exit
 
+-c, --cfgupdate
+   Read the configuration update and do not process mail from stdin. That
+   allows to send out welcome mails after a list configuration file was
+   updated. Otherwise the welcome mails are delayed until actual mail
+   delivery happens. The update and welcome mail processing is serialized
+   via the lock file in the working directory; no external serialization
+   against a concurrent mail delivery required.
+
 -s syslog, --syslog
    Use syslog for logging. Default is stderr
 
@@ -59,7 +67,7 @@ Exit codes
 .. list-table::
 
    * - 0
-     - Mail was successfully delivered
+     - Mail was successfully delivered or config update was successful
    * - 1
      - No enabled mailinglist found for delivery
    * - 2
diff --git a/remail/remaild.py b/remail/remaild.py
index bbe5803..3f577cf 100644
--- a/remail/remaild.py
+++ b/remail/remaild.py
@@ -370,13 +370,16 @@ class remaild(object):
         return self.should_stop()
 
     # The pipe handling interface
-    def handle_pipe(self):
+    def handle_pipe(self, cfgupdate):
         self._should_reload = True
         self.reconfigure()
 
         if not self.enabled:
             return 1
 
+        if cfgupdate:
+            return 0
+
         policy = EmailPolicy(utf8=True)
         msg = message_from_file(sys.stdin, policy=policy)
         return self.process_msg(msg, 'pipe input')
diff --git a/remail_pipe b/remail_pipe
index 4e4c1b4..1f7e2ca 100755
--- a/remail_pipe
+++ b/remail_pipe
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ def exit_daemon(logger, res):
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     parser = ArgumentParser(description='remail pipe')
     parser.add_argument('config', help='Config file')
+    parser.add_argument('--cfgupdate', '-c', dest='cfgupdate',
+                        action='store_true',
+                        help='Handle config file update. No mail processing.')
     parser.add_argument('--syslog', '-s', dest='syslog', action='store_true',
                         help='Use syslog for logging. Default is stderr')
     parser.add_argument('--verbose', '-v', dest='verbose', action='store_true',
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         exit_daemon(logger, 11)
 
     try:
-        res = rd.handle_pipe()
+        res = rd.handle_pipe(args.cfgupdate)
     except Exception as ex:
         '''
         Exceptions which reach here are fatal