[Dovecot] defunct processes

[LDB]

I am using SuSE 10.1 and dovecot version 0.99.14-5.

dovecot   6267   660  0 14:45 ?        00:00:00 imap-login
dovecot   6285   660  0 14:45 ?        00:00:00 pop3-login
dovecot   6371   660  0 14:45 ?        00:00:00 imap-login
postfix   6454 12811  0 14:46 ?        00:00:00 smtp -t unix -u
dovecot   6511   660  0 14:46 ?        00:00:00 pop3-login
postfix   6550 12811  0 14:46 ?        00:00:00 showq -t unix -u
dovecot   6576   660  0 14:46 ?        00:00:00 imap-login
dovecot   6579   660  0 14:46 ?        00:00:00 pop3-login
root      6580   666  1 14:46 ?        00:00:00 [dovecot-auth] <defunct>
ldb       6581   660  0 14:46 ?        00:00:00 pop3


After dovecot has been up and running for a while (1 month or so),
it tends to get hung up and unresponsive. I do a "ps" and I have
a whole host of defunct processes.

To restore service, I have to manually kill all dovecot processes
and start it up again.

Is this a symptom of my version or my configuration?

Thanks,

LDB