diff --git a/test/Makefile.in b/test/Makefile.in
index bf1913ab4..9335abd99 100644
--- a/test/Makefile.in
+++ b/test/Makefile.in
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ lib/paths: $(srcdir)/Makefile.in .lib-dir-stamp
 	echo 'export DM_UDEV_SYNCHRONISATION=$(dm_udev_synchronisation)' >> $@-t
 	echo 'export THIN=@THIN@' >> $@-t
 	echo 'export LVMETAD_PIDFILE=@LVMETAD_PIDFILE@' >> $@-t
+	echo 'export DMEVENTD_PIDFILE=@DMEVENTD_PIDFILE@' >> $@-t
 	mv $@-t $@
 
 LIB = lib/not lib/should lib/harness \
diff --git a/test/lib/aux.sh b/test/lib/aux.sh
index 7d13e8d1d..bd292bb58 100644
--- a/test/lib/aux.sh
+++ b/test/lib/aux.sh
@@ -68,7 +68,11 @@ prepare_dmeventd() {
 	echo $! > LOCAL_DMEVENTD
 
 	# FIXME wait for pipe in /var/run instead
-	while ! test -e "/run/dmeventd.pid"; do echo -n .; sleep .2; done # wait for the socket
+	for i in $(seq 1 100) ; do
+		test $i -eq 100 && die "Startup of dmeventd is too slow."
+		test -e "${DMEVENTD_PIDFILE}" && break
+		sleep .2
+	done
 	echo ok
 }