diff --git a/test/lib/aux.sh b/test/lib/aux.sh
index 4f5daaf56..276788054 100644
--- a/test/lib/aux.sh
+++ b/test/lib/aux.sh
@@ -435,6 +435,7 @@ kill_sleep_kill_() {
 	slow=$2
 	if test -s $pidfile ; then
 		pid=$(< $pidfile)
+		rm -f $pidfile
 		kill -TERM $pid 2>/dev/null || return 0
 		if test $slow -eq 0 ; then sleep .1 ; else sleep 1 ; fi
 		kill -KILL $pid 2>/dev/null || true