diff --git a/plugins/pidfile.c b/plugins/pidfile.c
index e2a55023..b525952f 100644
--- a/plugins/pidfile.c
+++ b/plugins/pidfile.c
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ static void pidfile_handle_dir(struct iwatch *iw, char *dir, char *name, int mas
 
 	if (mask & IN_CREATE) {
 		if (!iwp) {
-			pidfile_add_path(iw, path);
-			pidfile_scandir(iw, path, sizeof(path));
+			if (!pidfile_add_path(iw, path))
+				pidfile_scandir(iw, path, sizeof(path));
 		}
 	} else if (mask & IN_DELETE) {
 		if (iwp)
@@ -265,9 +265,9 @@ static void pidfile_init(void *arg)
  *
  *     service <net/iface/lo> /sbin/dropbear ...
  *
- * Which provides the <pid/sbin/dropbear> condition, will not be
- * set by pidfile.so during `initctl reload` because dropbear is
- * still SIGSTP:ed waiting for <net/iface/lo>.
+ * Which provides the <pid/dropbear> condition, will not be set by
+ * pidfile.so during `initctl reload` because dropbear is still
+ * SIGSTP:ed waiting for <net/iface/lo>.
  */
 static plugin_t plugin = {
 	.name = __FILE__,
diff --git a/src/cond-w.c b/src/cond-w.c
index d748e10a..e5f7456e 100644
--- a/src/cond-w.c
+++ b/src/cond-w.c
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ char *mkcond(svc_t *svc, char *buf, size_t len)
 	char ident[sizeof(svc->name) + sizeof(svc->id) + 2];
 
 	snprintf(buf, len, "pid/%s", svc_ident(svc, ident, sizeof(ident)));
-	_d("Created condition => %s", buf);
 
 	return buf;
 }
@@ -243,7 +242,6 @@ void cond_reload(void)
 	_d("");
 
 	cond_bump_reconf();
-	cond_update(NULL);
 }
 
 static int reassert(const char *fpath, const struct stat *sb, int tflg, struct FTW *ftw)
diff --git a/src/conf.c b/src/conf.c
index 0b68aa7f..8cec98d7 100644
--- a/src/conf.c
+++ b/src/conf.c
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ static int parse_conf(char *file)
 		_d("%s", line);
 
 		parse_static(line);
-		parse_dynamic(line, global_rlimit, NULL);
+		parse_dynamic(line, global_rlimit, file);
 	}
 
 	fclose(fp);
diff --git a/src/iwatch.c b/src/iwatch.c
index 48bedea1..ee241a66 100644
--- a/src/iwatch.c
+++ b/src/iwatch.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ int iwatch_init(struct iwatch *iw)
 
 	iw->fd = inotify_init1(IN_NONBLOCK | IN_CLOEXEC);
 	if (iw->fd < 0) {
-		_pe("inotify_init()");
+		_pe("Failed creating inotify descriptor");
 		return -1;
 	}
 	initialized = 1;
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ int iwatch_add(struct iwatch *iw, char *file, uint32_t mask)
 
 	wd = inotify_add_watch(iw->fd, path, IWATCH_MASK | mask);
 	if (wd < 0) {
-		_pe("inotify_add_watch(%s)", path);
+		_pe("Failed adding watcher for %s", path);
 		free(path);
 		return -1;
 	}
diff --git a/src/iwatch.h b/src/iwatch.h
index b59c3fb9..adff92a3 100644
--- a/src/iwatch.h
+++ b/src/iwatch.h
@@ -29,9 +29,16 @@
 #include <lite/queue.h>
 #include <sys/inotify.h>
 
+#ifndef IN_MASK_CREATE
+#define IN_MASK_CREATE 0x10000000	/* since Linux 4.18 */
+#endif
 
-/* Monitors changes to both directories and files by default */
-#define IWATCH_MASK (IN_CREATE | IN_DELETE | IN_MODIFY | IN_ATTRIB | IN_MOVE)
+/*
+ * Monitors changes to both directories and files by default, but only
+ * add watcher once (IN_MASK_CREATE) to avoid clobbering any already
+ * monitored paths.
+ */
+#define IWATCH_MASK (IN_CREATE | IN_DELETE | IN_MODIFY | IN_ATTRIB | IN_MOVE | IN_MASK_CREATE)
 
 struct iwatch_path {
 	TAILQ_ENTRY(iwatch_path) link;
diff --git a/src/service.c b/src/service.c
index 25452d60..eaa3d551 100644
--- a/src/service.c
+++ b/src/service.c
@@ -1107,6 +1107,7 @@ int service_register(int type, char *cfg, struct rlimit rlimit[], char *file)
 	else
 		svc_mark_clean(svc);
 
+	/* for finit native services only, e.g. plugins/hotplug.c */
 	if (!file)
 		svc->protect = 1;