diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index e0c2f80..47a69a7 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <strings.h>
 #include <time.h>
+#include <unistd.h>  /* pledge(2) */
 
 #include <X11/Xlib.h>
 #include <X11/Xatom.h>
@@ -496,6 +497,12 @@ run(void)
 {
 	XEvent ev;
 
+#if defined(__OpenBSD__)
+	if (pledge("stdio", NULL) < 0) {
+		die("pledge\n");
+	}
+#endif
+
 	while (!XNextEvent(dpy, &ev)) {
 		if (XFilterEvent(&ev, win))
 			continue;
@@ -654,6 +661,12 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		else
 			usage();
 
+#if defined(__OpenBSD__)
+	if (pledge("stdio rpath dns unix", NULL) < 0) {
+		die("pledge\n");
+	}
+#endif
+
 	if (!setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "") || !XSupportsLocale())
 		fputs("warning: no locale support\n", stderr);
 	if (!(dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL)))
@@ -668,6 +681,12 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		die("no fonts could be loaded.\n");
 	drw_setscheme(drw, &scheme[SchemeNorm]);
 
+#if defined(__OpenBSD__)
+	if (pledge("stdio rpath", NULL) < 0) {
+		die("pledge\n");
+	}
+#endif
+
 	if (fast) {
 		grabkeyboard();
 		readstdin();