diff --git a/src/api.c b/src/api.c
index a4a3e09c..1e07d804 100644
--- a/src/api.c
+++ b/src/api.c
@@ -89,8 +89,7 @@ static int restart(svc_t *svc, void *user_data)
 	if (!svc)
 		return 1;
 
-	svc_mark_dirty(svc);
-	svc_start(svc);
+	service_stop(svc);
 	service_step(svc);
 
 	return 0;
@@ -319,6 +318,10 @@ static void api_cb(uev_t *w, void *arg, int events)
 				if (EAGAIN == errno)
 					break;
 
+				/* we get here when client restarts itself */
+				if (ECONNRESET == errno)
+					break;
+
 				_e("Failed reading initctl request, error %d: %s", errno, strerror(errno));
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/initctl.c b/src/initctl.c
index 3993e40b..7fb8411a 100644
--- a/src/initctl.c
+++ b/src/initctl.c
@@ -271,23 +271,10 @@ static int do_reload (char *arg)
 
 static int do_restart(char *arg)
 {
-	size_t retries = 3;
-	svc_t *svc;
+	if (do_startstop(INIT_CMD_RESTART_SVC, arg))
+		ERRX(7, "failed restarting %s", arg);
 
-	if (do_startstop(INIT_CMD_STOP_SVC, arg))
-		return 1;
-
-	while (retries-- > 0 && (svc = client_svc_find(arg))) {
-		if (!svc_is_running(svc))
-			break;
-
-		sleep(1);
-	}
-
-	if (retries == 0)
-		ERRX(7, "failed stopping %s (restart)", arg);
-
-	return do_startstop(INIT_CMD_RESTART_SVC, arg);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/service.c b/src/service.c
index f0b00a63..6567793b 100644
--- a/src/service.c
+++ b/src/service.c
@@ -731,10 +731,14 @@ static void service_cleanup(svc_t *svc)
  * service_stop - Stop service
  * @svc: Service to stop
  *
+ * Called externally by initctl to perform stop/start (restart) of
+ * services.  Internally it is used to bring a run/task/service to
+ * HALTED state.
+ *
  * Returns:
  * 0 if the service was successfully stopped. Non-zero otherwise.
  */
-static int service_stop(svc_t *svc)
+int service_stop(svc_t *svc)
 {
 	char cmdline[CMD_SIZE] = "";
 	int do_progress = 1;
diff --git a/src/service.h b/src/service.h
index 9cc421e0..9831ea05 100644
--- a/src/service.h
+++ b/src/service.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ int       service_timeout_cancel (svc_t *svc);
 
 void      service_forked         (svc_t *svc);
 
+int       service_stop           (svc_t *svc);
 int       service_step           (svc_t *svc);
 void      service_step_all       (int types);
 void      service_worker         (void *unused);