diff --git a/config/herbstluftwm/autostart b/config/herbstluftwm/autostart
index 08ebb90..41a48d5 100755
--- a/config/herbstluftwm/autostart
+++ b/config/herbstluftwm/autostart
@@ -189,10 +189,24 @@ herbstclient set tree_style '╾│ ├└╼─┐'
 # or simply:
 # hc detect_monitors
 
-# find the panel
-panel=~/.config/herbstluftwm/panel.sh
-[ -x "$panel" ] || panel=/etc/xdg/herbstluftwm/panel.sh
-for monitor in $(herbstclient list_monitors | cut -d: -f1) ; do
-    # start it on each monitor
-    "$panel" $monitor &
-done
+# add external panel
+{
+	# find the panel
+	panel=~/.config/herbstluftwm/panel.sh
+	[ -x "$panel" ] || panel=/etc/xdg/herbstluftwm/panel.sh
+
+	# initialize array to store panel-pids
+	pids=( )
+
+	# start panel on every monitor
+	for monitor in $(herbstclient list_monitors | cut -d: -f1) ; do
+		# start it on each monitor and save pids
+		"$panel" $monitor &
+		pids+=( $! )
+	done
+
+	# wait until the panels should be stopped
+	herbstclient -w '(quit_panel|reload)'
+	# stop all started panels
+	kill ${pids[@]}
+} &