diff --git a/src/common/execio.c b/src/common/execio.c
--- a/src/common/execio.c
+++ b/src/common/execio.c
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
-int execio_open(struct execio **rem, const char *progname, char *const argv[])
+int execio_open(struct execio **rem, const char *progname, char *const argv[], int nice_incr)
 {
   /* pipe used to write to child */
   int pipe_write[2];
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ int execio_open(struct execio **rem, con
   /* child */
   else
     {
+#ifdef HAVE_NICE
+      /* lower the nice value */
+      nice(nice_incr);
+#endif
+
       /* close unused pipes */
       close(pipe_write[1]);
       close(pipe_read[0]);
@@ -162,7 +167,7 @@ int _execio_checkpid(struct execio *eio)
 }
 
 
-int execio_read(struct execio *eio, const void *buf, size_t len, size_t *bytesread)
+int execio_read(struct execio *eio, void *buf, size_t len, size_t *bytesread)
 {
   ssize_t ret;
   /*