The paper presents the determination of the pesticide 3-indolyl acetic acid based on its native fluorescence; the method has been optimised either in a flow injection analysis (FIA) assembly or in batch. Maximum fluorescence intensity was observed at basic pH solutions at lambda(exc) = 280 nm and lambda(em) = 364 nm. The influence of different empirical parameters as pH, surfactants presence, solvent polarity, solved oxygen amount, and temperature was studied; highest outputs only required the pH in aqueous solutions to be adjusted over the range 9.5-10.5. Different calibration ranges were obtained by working with three different sensitivity scales of the fluorimeter either in flow injection analysis or batch. With the high sensitivity scale and FIA, the linear dynamic range was from 0.005 to 0.6 mg L(-1) 3-indolyl acetic acid; with an relative standard deviation (RSD) of 4.9% inter-day reproducibility. A large series of potential interferents was studied and finally, the method was applied to several water samples.