diff --git a/doc/conditions.md b/doc/conditions.md
index a3a47a3e..6019c6b3 100644
--- a/doc/conditions.md
+++ b/doc/conditions.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ service to run.
 ### Example
 
 ```shell
-    service [2345] <pid/sbin/setupd,pid/sbin/zebra> /sbin/netd -- Network monitor
+service [2345] <pid/setupd,pid/zebra> /sbin/netd -- Network monitor
 ```
 
 In this example the Network monitor daemon `netd` is not started until
@@ -95,20 +95,34 @@ Built-in conditions:
 Composition
 -----------
 
-The `pid/` conditions can be quite tricky to understand.  They are
-generated by the Finit `pidfile.so` plugin and are composed from the
-daemon's path and the pidfile name (and path).
+The `pid/` conditions are generated by the Finit `pidfile.so` plugin and
+composed from a service's `name:` and `:id`.  By default the basename of
+the daemon and the empty string.
 
-| **service**                          | **pid:**        | **pidfile path** | **svc condition** |
-|--------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------|-------------------|
-| /sbin/foo                            |                 | /run/foo.pid     | pid/sbin/foo      |
-| /sbin/bar -p /run/baz.pid            | pid:baz         | /run/bas.pid     | pid/sbin/baz      |
-| lxc-start -n foo -p /run/lxc/foo.pid | pid:lxc/foo.pid | /run/lxc/foo.pid | pid/lxc/foo       |
-| /usr/bin/dbus-daemon                 | pid:dbus/pid    | /run/dbus/pid    | pid/usr/bin/dbus  |
+| **service**                                        | **condition**    |
+|----------------------------------------------------|------------------|
+| /sbin/foo                                          | pid/foo          |
+| /sbin/bar -p /run/baz.pid                          | pid/bar          |
+| name:lxc :foo lxc-start -n foo -p /run/lxc/foo.pid | pid/lxc:foo      |
+| /usr/bin/dbus-daemon                               | pid/dbus-daemon  |
+| :222 dropbear -p 222                               | pid/dropbear:222 |
 
-Omitting the `pid:` to run/task/service/sysv stanza means Finit will
-guess the pidfile path based on `/run/` and the basename(1) of the
-program.
+The condition is asserted when `pidfile.so` receives an inotify event for a file
+matching `/run/*.pid`, `/run/**/*.pid`, or `/run/**/pid`, which contains the
+PID of the service Finit has started.
+
+When Finit configuration files are changed and the `initctl reload`
+command is called, it is expected of services to touch their PID files
+for Finit to reassert their conditions.
+
+Daemons that don't create PID files, or fail to touch them on reload,
+can be worked around by using the `pid:/path/to/file.pid` syntax in
+the service stanza for the daemon.  It is far from optimal since any
+synchronization of depending services may fail due to the daemon not
+having reinitialized/created their IPC sockets, or similar.
+
+> **Note:** in versions of Finit prior to v4, the PID conditions were
+>           called 'svc' conditions, and they were far more complex.
 
 
 Debugging
@@ -125,11 +139,11 @@ conditions that are not satisfied.  Listed as `off` below.
 **Example:**
 
 ```shell
-    ~ # initctl cond show
-    PID     Service               Status  Condition (+ on, ~ flux, - off)
-    ===============================================================================
-    1419    /sbin/netd            on      <+pid/sbin/setupd,+pid/sbin/zebra>
-    0       /sbin/udhcpc          off     <-net/vlan1/exist>
+~ # initctl cond show
+PID     Service               Status  Condition (+ on, ~ flux, - off)
+===============================================================================
+1419    /sbin/netd            on      <+pid/sbin/setupd,+pid/sbin/zebra>
+0       /sbin/udhcpc          off     <-net/vlan1/exist>
 ```
 
 Here we can see that `netd` is allowed to run since both its conditions
@@ -141,9 +155,9 @@ To fake interface `vlan1` suddenly appearing, and test what happens to
 `udhcpc` we can enable debug mode and assert the condition, like this:
 
 ```shell
-    ~ # initctl debug
-    ~ # mkdir -p /var/run/finit/cond/net/vlan1
-    ~ # cp /var/run/finit/cond /var/run/finit/cond/net/vlan1/exist
+~ # initctl debug
+~ # mkdir -p /var/run/finit/cond/net/vlan1
+~ # cp /var/run/finit/cond /var/run/finit/cond/net/vlan1/exist
 ```
 
 Then watch the console for the debug messages and then check the output