diff --git a/src/monitor/monitor.c b/src/monitor/monitor.c
index a080870..513c249 100644
--- a/src/monitor/monitor.c
+++ b/src/monitor/monitor.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 #include "monitor/monitor_interfaces.h"
 #include "responder/common/responder_sbus.h"
 #include "util/inotify.h"
+#include "tools/common/sss_process.h"
 
 #ifdef USE_KEYRING
 #include <keyutils.h>
@@ -2440,6 +2441,7 @@ int main(int argc, const char *argv[])
     struct mt_ctx *monitor;
     int ret;
     uid_t uid;
+    pid_t pid;
 
     struct poptOption long_options[] = {
         POPT_AUTOHELP
@@ -2622,10 +2624,13 @@ int main(int argc, const char *argv[])
     /* Check if the SSSD is already running */
     ret = check_file(SSSD_PIDFILE, 0, 0, S_IFREG|0600, 0, NULL, false);
     if (ret == EOK) {
-        DEBUG(SSSDBG_FATAL_FAILURE,
-              "pidfile exists at %s\n", SSSD_PIDFILE);
-        ERROR("SSSD is already running\n");
-        return 2;
+        ret = sss_signal(0);
+        if (ret == EOK) {
+            DEBUG(SSSDBG_FATAL_FAILURE,
+                  "pidfile exists at %s\n", SSSD_PIDFILE);
+            ERROR("SSSD is already running\n");
+            return 2;
+        }
     }
 
     /* Parse config file, fail if cannot be done */