diff --git a/src/service.c b/src/service.c
index 813ae218..3f1e27e5 100644
--- a/src/service.c
+++ b/src/service.c
@@ -990,11 +990,10 @@ static void svc_set_state(svc_t *svc, svc_state_t new)
 
 	*state = new;
 
-	/* if the PID isn't collected within 3s, kill it! */
-	if ((*state == SVC_STOPPING_STATE) &&
-	    !svc_is_inetd(svc)) {
+	/* if PID isn't collected within SVC_TERM_TIMEOUT msec, kill it! */
+	if ((*state == SVC_STOPPING_STATE) && !svc_is_inetd(svc)) {
 		service_timeout_cancel(svc);
-		service_timeout_after(svc, 3000, service_kill);
+		service_timeout_after(svc, SVC_TERM_TIMEOUT, service_kill);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/svc.h b/src/svc.h
index 53189e0e..3e14d4f2 100644
--- a/src/svc.h
+++ b/src/svc.h
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ typedef enum {
 #define MAX_NUM_FDS      64	     /* Max number of I/O plugins */
 #define MAX_NUM_SVC_ARGS 32
 
+/* Time after SIGTERM that we SIGKILL stopping processes */
+#define SVC_TERM_TIMEOUT 3000
+
 /*
  * Default enable for all services, can be stopped by means
  * of issuing an initctl call. E.g.