diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index a9134869..f4f4a659 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2007-04-19  Enrico Tröger  <enrico.troeger@uvena.de>
+
+ * doc/geany.docbook, src/vte.c:
+   Fixed handling of command line arguments within the shell command for
+   the VTE to enable use of shells as login shells.
+
+
 2007-04-18  Nick Treleaven  <nick.treleaven@btinternet.com>
 
  * doc/geany.docbook:
diff --git a/doc/geany.docbook b/doc/geany.docbook
index 0c980c05..aae36fe7 100644
--- a/doc/geany.docbook
+++ b/doc/geany.docbook
@@ -394,6 +394,12 @@
 					 pressing the middle mouse button in the VTE (on 2-button mice,
 					 the middle button can often be simulated by pressing both mouse buttons together).
 				</para>
+				<para>
+					In the preferences dialog you can specify a shell which should be started in the
+					VTE. To make the specified shell a login shell just use the appropriate command
+					line options for the shell. These options should be found in the manual page of
+					the shell. For zsh and bash you can use the argument <literal>--login</literal>.
+				</para>
 				<note>
 					<para><application>Geany</application> tries to load <filename>libvte.so</filename>.
 						  If this fails, it tries to load <filename>libvte.so.4</filename>. If this
diff --git a/src/vte.c b/src/vte.c
index 8c4a049d..5fa73b68 100644
--- a/src/vte.c
+++ b/src/vte.c
@@ -233,8 +233,11 @@ static gboolean vte_keypress(GtkWidget *widget, GdkEventKey *event, gpointer dat
 	{
 		vte_get_working_directory(); // try to keep the working directory when restarting the VTE
 
-		kill(pid, SIGINT);
-		pid = 0;
+		if (pid > 0)
+		{
+			kill(pid, SIGINT);
+			pid = 0;
+		}
 		vf->vte_terminal_reset(VTE_TERMINAL(widget), TRUE, TRUE);
 		vte_start(widget);
 
@@ -249,11 +252,21 @@ static void vte_start(GtkWidget *widget)
 {
 	VteTerminal *vte = VTE_TERMINAL(widget);
 	gchar **env;
+	gchar **argv;
 
-	env = vte_get_child_environment();
-	pid = vf->vte_terminal_fork_command(VTE_TERMINAL(vte), vc->shell, NULL, env,
+	// split the shell command line, so arguments will work too
+	argv = g_strsplit(vc->shell, " ", -1);
+
+	if (argv != NULL)
+	{
+		env = vte_get_child_environment();
+		pid = vf->vte_terminal_fork_command(VTE_TERMINAL(vte), argv[0], argv, env,
 												vte_info.dir, TRUE, TRUE, TRUE);
-	g_strfreev(env);
+		g_strfreev(env);
+		g_strfreev(argv);
+	}
+	else
+		pid = 0; // use 0 as invalid pid
 }
 
 
@@ -405,7 +418,7 @@ const gchar* vte_get_working_directory()
 	gchar *cwd;
 	gint   length;
 
-	if (pid >= 0)
+	if (pid > 0)
 	{
 		file = g_strdup_printf("/proc/%d/cwd", pid);
 		length = readlink(file, buffer, sizeof (buffer));