diff --git a/pihole b/pihole
index 5a54fae4..a8442edd 100755
--- a/pihole
+++ b/pihole
@@ -185,6 +185,19 @@ piholeLogging() {
 }
 
 piholeStatus() {
+  if [[ $(netstat -plnt | grep -c ':53 ') > 0 ]]; then
+    if [[ "${1}" != "web" ]] ; then
+      echo "::: DNS service is running"
+    fi
+  else
+    if [[ "${1}" == "web" ]] ; then
+      echo "-1";
+    else
+      echo "::: DNS service is NOT running"
+    fi
+    return
+  fi
+
   if [[ $(grep -i "^#addn-hosts=/" /etc/dnsmasq.d/01-pihole.conf) ]] ; then
     #list is commented out
     if [[ "${1}" == "web" ]] ; then