diff --git a/src/pid.c b/src/pid.c
index 428f26ff..780e12a0 100644
--- a/src/pid.c
+++ b/src/pid.c
@@ -95,18 +95,15 @@ char *pid_get_name(pid_t pid, char *name, size_t len)
 
 char *pid_file(svc_t *svc)
 {
-	static char path[256];
-	char fn[MAX_ARG_LEN];
-
 	if (svc->pidfile[0]) {
 		if (svc->pidfile[0] == '!')
 			return &svc->pidfile[1];
 		return svc->pidfile;
 	}
 
-	snprintf(fn, sizeof(fn), "%s%s.pid", _PATH_VARRUN, basename(svc->cmd));
+	errno = ENOENT;
 
-	return pid_runpath(fn, path, sizeof(path));
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 pid_t pid_file_read(const char *fn)
diff --git a/src/service.c b/src/service.c
index a877a452..5ac2e6f5 100644
--- a/src/service.c
+++ b/src/service.c
@@ -616,7 +616,7 @@ static void service_cleanup(svc_t *svc)
 	char *fn;
 
 	fn = pid_file(svc);
-	if (remove(fn) && errno != ENOENT)
+	if (fn && remove(fn) && errno != ENOENT)
 		logit(LOG_CRIT, "Failed removing service %s pidfile %s",
 		      basename(svc->cmd), fn);