diff --git a/lib/libutil/pidfile.3 b/lib/libutil/pidfile.3
index 64f77b05e92d..3eaa7cf010e5 100644
--- a/lib/libutil/pidfile.3
+++ b/lib/libutil/pidfile.3
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ Specified pidfile's name is too long.
 .It Bq Er EINVAL
 Some process already holds the lock on the given pidfile, but PID read
 from there is invalid.
+.It Bq Er EAGAIN
+Some process already holds the lock on the given pidfile, but the file
+is truncated. Most likely, the existing daemon is writing new PID into
+the file.
 .El
 .Pp
 The
diff --git a/lib/libutil/pidfile.c b/lib/libutil/pidfile.c
index 983d103b9ae1..ecf0fac48f1a 100644
--- a/lib/libutil/pidfile.c
+++ b/lib/libutil/pidfile.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ __FBSDID("$FreeBSD$");
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <time.h>
 #include <err.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <libutil.h>
@@ -74,6 +75,8 @@ pidfile_read(const char *path, pid_t *pidptr)
 	close(fd);
 	if (i == -1)
 		return (error);
+	else if (i == 0)
+		return (EAGAIN);
 	buf[i] = '\0';
 
 	*pidptr = strtol(buf, &endptr, 10);
@@ -88,7 +91,8 @@ pidfile_open(const char *path, mode_t mode, pid_t *pidptr)
 {
 	struct pidfh *pfh;
 	struct stat sb;
-	int error, fd, len;
+	int error, fd, len, count;
+	struct timespec rqtp;
 
 	pfh = malloc(sizeof(*pfh));
 	if (pfh == NULL)
@@ -115,10 +119,20 @@ pidfile_open(const char *path, mode_t mode, pid_t *pidptr)
 	fd = flopen(pfh->pf_path,
 	    O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_NONBLOCK, mode);
 	if (fd == -1) {
+		count = 0;
+		rqtp.tv_sec = 0;
+		rqtp.tv_nsec = 5000000;
 		if (errno == EWOULDBLOCK && pidptr != NULL) {
+		again:
 			errno = pidfile_read(pfh->pf_path, pidptr);
 			if (errno == 0)
 				errno = EEXIST;
+			else if (errno == EAGAIN) {
+				if (++count <= 3) {
+					nanosleep(&rqtp, 0);
+					goto again;
+				}
+			}
 		}
 		free(pfh);
 		return (NULL);