diff --git a/service.c b/service.c
index c4426a13..d51679a1 100644
--- a/service.c
+++ b/service.c
@@ -659,9 +659,9 @@ int service_register(int type, char *line, time_t mtime, char *username)
 			return errno = ENOMEM;
 		}
 	}
-	if (svc->mtime != mtime)
-		svc->dirty = 1;
-	svc->mtime = mtime;
+
+	/* New, recently modified or unchanged ... used on reload. */
+	svc_check_dirty(svc, mtime);
 
 	if (desc)
 		strlcpy(svc->desc, desc + 3, sizeof(svc->desc));
diff --git a/svc.c b/svc.c
index ba5b88f4..9da209bf 100644
--- a/svc.c
+++ b/svc.c
@@ -330,6 +330,15 @@ void svc_mark_dynamic(void)
 	}
 }
 
+void svc_check_dirty(svc_t *svc, time_t mtime)
+{
+	if (svc->mtime != mtime)
+		svc->dirty = 1;
+	else
+		svc->dirty = 0;
+	svc->mtime = mtime;
+}
+
 /**
  * svc_clean_dynamic - Stop and cleanup stale services removed from /etc/finit.d
  * @cb: Callback to run for each stale service
diff --git a/svc.h b/svc.h
index 99d28245..d2ef65c5 100644
--- a/svc.h
+++ b/svc.h
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ void	  svc_foreach	       (void (*cb)(svc_t *));
 void	  svc_foreach_dynamic  (void (*cb)(svc_t *));
 
 void	  svc_mark_dynamic     (void);
+void	  svc_check_dirty      (svc_t *svc, time_t mtime);
 void	  svc_clean_dynamic    (void (*cb)(svc_t *));
 
 char     *svc_status           (svc_t *svc);