diff --git a/daemon/main.c b/daemon/main.c
index 26fc9283a..76fcda607 100644
--- a/daemon/main.c
+++ b/daemon/main.c
@@ -476,6 +476,7 @@ static void options(int *argc, char ***argv) {
 		{ "https-cert", 0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&rtpe_config.https_cert,"Certificate for HTTPS and WSS","FILE"},
 		{ "https-key", 0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&rtpe_config.https_key,	"Private key for HTTPS and WSS","FILE"},
 		{ "http-threads", 0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_config.http_threads,"Number of worker threads for HTTP and WS","INT"},
+		{ "software-id", 0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&rtpe_config.software_id,"Identification string of this software presented to external systems","STRING"},
 #ifdef WITH_TRANSCODING
 		{ "dtx-delay",	0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_config.dtx_delay,	"Delay in milliseconds to trigger DTX handling","INT"},
 		{ "max-dtx",	0,0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_config.max_dtx,	"Maximum duration of DTX handling",	"INT"},
@@ -734,6 +735,10 @@ static void options(int *argc, char ***argv) {
 		}
 		rtpe_config.cn_payload.len = len;
 	}
+
+	if (!rtpe_config.software_id)
+		rtpe_config.software_id = g_strdup_printf("rtpengine-%s", RTPENGINE_VERSION);
+	g_strcanon(rtpe_config.software_id, "QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNMqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm1234567890-", '-');
 }
 
 void fill_initial_rtpe_cfg(struct rtpengine_config* ini_rtpe_cfg) {
@@ -859,6 +864,7 @@ static void options_free(void) {
 	g_strfreev(rtpe_config.https_ifs);
 	g_free(rtpe_config.https_cert);
 	g_free(rtpe_config.https_key);
+	g_free(rtpe_config.software_id);
 
 	// free common config options
 	config_load_free(&rtpe_config.common);
diff --git a/daemon/rtpengine.pod b/daemon/rtpengine.pod
index 4a4ec7800..fb4d951a0 100644
--- a/daemon/rtpengine.pod
+++ b/daemon/rtpengine.pod
@@ -764,6 +764,13 @@ Number of worker threads for HTTP/HTTPS/WS/WSS. If not specified, then the same
 number as given under B<num-threads> will be used. If no HTTP listeners are
 enabled, then no threads are created.
 
+=item B<--software-id=>I<STRING>
+
+Sets a free-form string that is used to identify this software towards external
+systems with, for example in outgoing ICE/STUN requests. Defaults to
+B<rtpengine->I<VERSION>. The string is sanitised to replace all
+non-alphanumeric characters with a dash to make it universally usable.
+
 =item B<--dtx-delay=>I<INT>
 
 Processing delay in milliseconds to handle discontinuous transmission (DTX) or
diff --git a/daemon/stun.c b/daemon/stun.c
index 63852a10f..eef7bd8d8 100644
--- a/daemon/stun.c
+++ b/daemon/stun.c
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ static void output_finish_src(struct msghdr *mh) {
 
 static void software(struct msghdr *mh, struct software *sw) {
 	int i;
-	i = snprintf(sw->str, sizeof(sw->str), "rtpengine-%s", RTPENGINE_VERSION);
+	i = snprintf(sw->str, sizeof(sw->str), "%s", rtpe_config.software_id);
 	output_add_data_len_pad(mh, sw, STUN_SOFTWARE, sw->str, i);
 }
 
diff --git a/include/main.h b/include/main.h
index 1edb10697..c569f9d4f 100644
--- a/include/main.h
+++ b/include/main.h
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ struct rtpengine_config {
 	uint32_t		silence_detect_int;
 	str			cn_payload;
 	int			reorder_codecs;
+	char			*software_id;
 };