diff --git a/plugins/pidfile.c b/plugins/pidfile.c
index dfb3b7df..fbd525c0 100644
--- a/plugins/pidfile.c
+++ b/plugins/pidfile.c
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ static void pidfile_update_conds(char *dir, char *name, uint32_t mask)
 	mkcond(svc, cond, sizeof(cond));
 	if (mask & (IN_CLOSE_WRITE | IN_ATTRIB | IN_MODIFY | IN_MOVED_TO)) {
 		svc_started(svc);
+		if (!svc_has_pidfile(svc))
+			pid_file_set(svc, fn, 1);
+
 		if (svc_is_forking(svc)) {
 			pid_t pid;
 
diff --git a/src/svc.c b/src/svc.c
index 323243c4..e9e53ebb 100644
--- a/src/svc.c
+++ b/src/svc.c
@@ -416,7 +416,17 @@ svc_t *svc_find_by_pidfile(char *fn)
 
 	pid = pid_file_read(fn);
 	if (pid <= 0) {
-		_d("pid_file_read(%s) => %d", fn, pid);
+		for (svc = svc_iterator(&iter, 1); svc; svc = svc_iterator(&iter, 0)) {
+			int v = 0;
+
+			if (svc->pidfile[0] == '!')
+				v = 1;
+			if (strcmp(&svc->pidfile[v], fn))
+				continue;
+
+			return svc;
+		}
+
 		return NULL;
 	}