diff --git a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t
index b9d844c750f2..fd76e6451de3 100644
--- a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t
+++ b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ name="pgrep -F <pidfile>"
 pidfile=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 sleep=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 ln -sf /bin/sleep $sleep
-daemon -p $pidfile $sleep 5
+$sleep 5 &
 sleep 0.3
-chpid=`cat $pidfile`
+chpid=$!
+echo $chpid > $pidfile
 pid=`pgrep -f -F $pidfile $sleep`
 if [ "$pid" = "$chpid" ]; then
 	echo "ok - $name"
diff --git a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t
index ebde428e3bad..732d80757bbb 100644
--- a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t
+++ b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ name="pkill -F <pidfile>"
 pidfile=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 sleep=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 ln -sf /bin/sleep $sleep
-daemon -p $pidfile $sleep 5
+$sleep 5 &
 sleep 0.3
+echo $! > $pidfile
 pkill -f -F $pidfile $sleep
 ec=$?
 case $ec in