ldap_simple_bind_s returns error 81

[stegeman@xs4all.nl (Joost Stegeman)]

Hi all,

I'm having a real strange problem connecting to an OpenLDAP 1.2.7
server on Solaris 2.6.
My CGI script using Net::LDAPapi (openldap client lib) runs fine under
Netscape Fasttrack Server and Enterprise Server. It runs fine from the
commandline too. The same script runs fine on my test system using the
Apache webserver.
But here it comes: On my production server (same Apache and OpenLDAP
server) it returns an error 81 at the ldap_simple_bind_s stage. 

The cgi script will run just fine when executed from the commandline
and the environments under Apache and the one in my shell seem to bee
the same (though they are obviously not or the script would work).

Has anyone seen this behaviour?
What does error 81 ("LDAP server down") mean?
Any suggestions?

tia, Joost