diff --git a/plugins/meta/dnsname/dnsname_test.go b/plugins/meta/dnsname/dnsname_test.go
index 9646d8bfd3d3f27a4301c4242dacfc49cd5bfa28..5bc4032741ae4177162f56fc2cd9c041a3d15a58 100644
--- a/plugins/meta/dnsname/dnsname_test.go
+++ b/plugins/meta/dnsname/dnsname_test.go
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ var _ = Describe("dnsname tests", func() {
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil())
 
 			// Check that the dns masq instance is running
-			pid, err := d.getPidProcess()
+			pid, err := d.getProcess()
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil())
 			// Send it a signal 0; if alive, error will be nil
 			err = pid.Signal(syscall.Signal(0))
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ var _ = Describe("dnsname tests", func() {
 			d, err := newDNSMasqFile("foobar.io", "dummy0", "test")
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil())
 
-			pid, err := d.getPidProcess()
+			pid, err := d.getProcess()
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil())
 			err = pid.Signal(syscall.Signal(0))
 			Expect(err).To(BeNil())
diff --git a/plugins/meta/dnsname/main.go b/plugins/meta/dnsname/main.go
index 863048020bd5442b515b571fca35d8a0f91134a1..4b49f13417b72413802d84b57a6bb9908b6bfaf8 100644
--- a/plugins/meta/dnsname/main.go
+++ b/plugins/meta/dnsname/main.go
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ func cmdCheck(args *skel.CmdArgs) error {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	pid, err := dnsNameConf.getPidProcess()
+	pid, err := dnsNameConf.getProcess()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/meta/dnsname/service.go b/plugins/meta/dnsname/service.go
index 93c4ee3b2a02750720cee5212a6aad0889fb767d..6922ad462106e0e00cb84d2acbcf910c22af78a2 100644
--- a/plugins/meta/dnsname/service.go
+++ b/plugins/meta/dnsname/service.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ func (d dnsNameFile) hup() error {
 	if _, err := os.Stat(d.PidFile); os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		return d.start()
 	}
-	pid, err := d.getPidProcess()
+	pid, err := d.getProcess()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ func isRunning(pid *os.Process) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+// start starts the dnsmasq instance.
 func (d dnsNameFile) start() error {
 	args := []string{
 		"-u",
@@ -67,17 +69,18 @@ func (d dnsNameFile) start() error {
 	return cmd.Run()
 }
 
+// stop stops the dnsmasq instance.
 func (d dnsNameFile) stop() error {
-	pid, err := d.getPidProcess()
+	pid, err := d.getProcess()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	return pid.Kill()
 }
 
-// getPidProcess reads the PID for the dnsmasq instance and returns it in the
-// form of an int
-func (d dnsNameFile) getPidProcess() (*os.Process, error) {
+// getProcess reads the PID for the dnsmasq instance and returns an
+// *os.Process. Returns an error if the PID does not exist.
+func (d dnsNameFile) getProcess() (*os.Process, error) {
 	pidFileContents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(d.PidFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -86,6 +89,9 @@ func (d dnsNameFile) getPidProcess() (*os.Process, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(fmt.Sprintf("/proc/%d/", pid)); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "dnsmasq process with PID %d does not exist", pid)
+	}
 	return os.FindProcess(pid)
 }