The proposal is for a process for the adaptive knock control of an internal combustion engine designed to adjust the angular ignition spacing of an engine in the "delay" direction when knocking occurs and then in the "advance" direction. At the same time the engine is to have sub-divided operating ranges in which a delay value found during operation in a range is always stored when that range is left. Especially an average of all the angular ignition spacings issued in a range or a delay value added by a digital low-pass is to be stored hereby.