diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index d3c96bafc4..50e6a50c69 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ sc_prohibit_sprintf:
 	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
 
 sc_prohibit_readlink:
-	@prohibit='readlink *\('					\
+	@prohibit='\<readlink *\('					\
 	halt='use virFileResolveLink, not readlink'			\
 	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
 
diff --git a/src/util/virpidfile.c b/src/util/virpidfile.c
index e8434c1b88..0fff8ae47e 100644
--- a/src/util/virpidfile.c
+++ b/src/util/virpidfile.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "logging.h"
 #include "virterror_internal.h"
 #include "c-ctype.h"
+#include "areadlink.h"
 
 #define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_NONE
 
@@ -203,38 +204,91 @@ int virPidFileRead(const char *dir,
  */
 int virPidFileReadPathIfAlive(const char *path,
                               pid_t *pid,
-                              const char *binpath)
+                              const char *binPath)
 {
-    int rc;
-    char *procpath = NULL;
+    int ret, retPid;
+    bool isLink;
+    char *procPath = NULL;
+    char *procLink = NULL;
+    size_t procLinkLen;
+    char *resolvedBinPath = NULL;
+    char *resolvedProcLink = NULL;
+    const char deletedText[] = " (deleted)";
+    size_t deletedTextLen = strlen(deletedText);
 
-    rc = virPidFileReadPath(path, pid);
-    if (rc < 0)
-        return rc;
+
+    /* only set this at the very end on success */
+    *pid = -1;
+
+    if ((ret = virPidFileReadPath(path, &retPid)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
 
 #ifndef WIN32
     /* Check that it's still alive.  Safe to skip this sanity check on
      * mingw, which lacks kill().  */
-    if (kill(*pid, 0) < 0) {
-        *pid = -1;
-        return 0;
+    if (kill(retPid, 0) < 0) {
+        ret = 0;
+        retPid = -1;
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 #endif
 
-    if (binpath) {
-        if (virAsprintf(&procpath, "/proc/%lld/exe", (long long)*pid) < 0) {
-            *pid = -1;
-            return -1;
-        }
-
-        if (virFileIsLink(procpath) &&
-            virFileLinkPointsTo(procpath, binpath) == 0)
-            *pid = -1;
-
-        VIR_FREE(procpath);
+    if (!binPath) {
+        /* we only knew the pid, and that pid is alive, so we can
+         * return it.
+         */
+        ret = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    return 0;
+    if (virAsprintf(&procPath, "/proc/%lld/exe", (long long)retPid) < 0) {
+        ret = -ENOMEM;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    if ((ret = virFileIsLink(procPath)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+    isLink = ret;
+
+    if (isLink && virFileLinkPointsTo(procPath, binPath)) {
+        /* the link in /proc/$pid/exe is a symlink to a file
+         * that has the same inode as the file at binpath.
+         */
+        ret = 0;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
+    /* Even if virFileLinkPointsTo returns a mismatch, it could be
+     * that the binary was deleted/replaced after it was executed. In
+     * that case the link in /proc/$pid/exe will contain
+     * "$procpath (deleted)".  Read that link, remove the " (deleted)"
+     * part, and see if it has the same canonicalized name as binpath.
+     */
+    if (!(procLink = areadlink(procPath))) {
+        ret = -errno;
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+    procLinkLen = strlen(procLink);
+    if (procLinkLen > deletedTextLen)
+        procLink[procLinkLen - deletedTextLen] = 0;
+
+    if ((ret = virFileResolveAllLinks(binPath, &resolvedBinPath)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+    if ((ret = virFileResolveAllLinks(procLink, &resolvedProcLink)) < 0)
+        goto cleanup;
+
+    ret = STREQ(resolvedBinPath, resolvedProcLink) ? 0 : -1;
+
+cleanup:
+    VIR_FREE(procPath);
+    VIR_FREE(procLink);
+    VIR_FREE(resolvedProcLink);
+    VIR_FREE(resolvedBinPath);
+
+    /* return the originally set pid of -1 unless we proclaim success */
+    if (ret == 0)
+        *pid = retPid;
+    return ret;
 }