diff --git a/test/Makefile.am b/test/Makefile.am
index 74623e4f..03b3501e 100644
--- a/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/test/Makefile.am
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST		 = skel/bin/busybox-x86_64.md5 skel/sbin/service.sh skel/bin/slay  \
 			   skel/etc/inittab skel/etc/hostname skel/etc/fstab 		   \
 			   skel/etc/init.d/rcS skel/etc/init.d/rcK skel/tmp/.empty	   \
 			   skel/etc/finit.d/.empty skel/etc/init.d/S01-service.sh 	   \
+			   skel/etc/init.d/S02-serv.sh					   \
 			   skel/proc/.empty skel/root/.empty skel/run/.empty		   \
 			   skel/sbin/chrootsetup.sh skel/srv/.empty skel/sys/.empty	   \
 			   skel/usr/bin/.empty skel/usr/lib/.empty skel/usr/sbin/.empty	   \
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST		+= setup-root.sh
 EXTRA_DIST		+= add-remove-dynamic-service.sh
 EXTRA_DIST		+= add-remove-dynamic-service-sub-config.sh
 EXTRA_DIST		+= cond-start-task.sh
+EXTRA_DIST		+= failing-sysv.sh
 EXTRA_DIST		+= global-envs.sh
 EXTRA_DIST		+= pre-post-serv.sh
 EXTRA_DIST		+= start-stop-service.sh
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@ TESTS			+= setup-root.sh
 TESTS			+= add-remove-dynamic-service.sh
 TESTS			+= add-remove-dynamic-service-sub-config.sh
 TESTS			+= cond-start-task.sh
+TESTS			+= failing-sysv.sh
 TESTS			+= global-envs.sh
 TESTS			+= pre-post-serv.sh
 TESTS			+= start-stop-service.sh
diff --git a/test/failing-sysv.sh b/test/failing-sysv.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..cf57fed9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/failing-sysv.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Verify what happesn when sysv scripts start services that keep
+# crashing -- hint: crashing sysv services should be detected by
+# Finit just like regular services.
+set -eu
+
+TEST_DIR=$(dirname "$0")
+
+test_setup()
+{
+	say "Test start $(date)"
+	texec sh -c "mkdir -p /etc/default"
+}
+
+test_teardown()
+{
+	say "Test done $(date)"
+	say "Running test teardown."
+
+	texec rm -f "$FINIT_CONF"
+}
+
+# shellcheck source=/dev/null
+. "$TEST_DIR/tenv/lib.sh"
+
+# This instructs serv to check the environment, and exit
+# if it cannot find "xyzzy", thus triggering a premature
+# exit which Finit should act on to retstart it.
+say "Setting up bogus /etc/default/serv"
+texec sh -c "echo 'SERV_ARGS=\"-e xyzzy:lives\"' > /etc/default/serv"
+
+say "Add sysv stanza to $FINIT_CONF"
+texec sh -c "echo 'sysv restart:5 [2345] pid:!/run/serv.pid name:serv /etc/init.d/S02-serv.sh -- Crashing SysV service' > $FINIT_CONF"
+
+#texec sh -c "initctl debug"
+
+say 'Reload Finit'
+texec sh -c "initctl reload"
+#texec sh -c "initctl status serv"
+#texec sh -c "ps"
+
+say 'Pending sysv restarts by Finit ...'
+#texec sh -c "initctl status serv"
+#texec sh -c "ps"
+retry 'assert_restarts 5 serv' 20 1
+
+return 0
diff --git a/test/skel/etc/init.d/S02-serv.sh b/test/skel/etc/init.d/S02-serv.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..846ff444
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/skel/etc/init.d/S02-serv.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# SysV style start script for serv
+
+DAEMON="/sbin/serv"
+PIDFILE="/var/run/serv.pid"
+
+# shellcheck source=/dev/null
+[ -r "/etc/default/serv" ] && . "/etc/default/serv"
+
+start()
+{
+	printf 'Starting %s: ' "$DAEMON $SERV_ARGS"
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2086 # we need the word splitting
+	start-stop-daemon -S -b -q -p "$PIDFILE" -x "$DAEMON" -- $SERV_ARGS
+
+	status=$?
+	if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+		echo "OK"
+	else
+		echo "FAIL"
+	fi
+
+	return "$status"
+}
+
+stop()
+{
+	printf 'Stopping %s: ' "$DAEMON"
+	start-stop-daemon -K -q -p "$PIDFILE"
+
+	status=$?
+	if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+		echo "OK"
+	else
+		echo "FAIL"
+	fi
+
+	return "$status"
+}
+
+restart()
+{
+	stop
+	sleep 1
+	start
+}
+
+case "$1" in
+	start|stop|restart)
+		"$1"
+		;;
+	*)
+		echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart}, got $0 $1"
+		exit 1
+esac
diff --git a/test/tenv/lib.sh b/test/tenv/lib.sh
index c0d59762..fbf13b1b 100755
--- a/test/tenv/lib.sh
+++ b/test/tenv/lib.sh
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ assert_new_pid()
 	assert "Finit has registered new PID" "$(texec initctl |grep $1 | awk '{print $1;}')" -eq "$(texec cat $2)"
 }
 
+assert_restarts()
+{
+	assert "Finit has registered restarts" "$(texec initctl status "$2" | awk '/Restarts/{print $3;}')" -ge "$1"
+}
+
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
 assert_pidfile()
 {