diff --git a/package/mdnsd/S50mdnsd b/package/mdnsd/S50mdnsd
index 803ac12a8e..a3d8835918 100644
--- a/package/mdnsd/S50mdnsd
+++ b/package/mdnsd/S50mdnsd
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# shellcheck disable=SC2317  # Don't warn about unreachable commands in this file
 
 DAEMON=mdnsd
 MDNSD=/usr/sbin/$DAEMON
@@ -12,43 +11,63 @@ MDNSD_ARGS=""
 # shellcheck source=/dev/null
 [ -r "$CFGFILE" ] && . "$CFGFILE"
 
-# shellcheck disable=SC2086
 start() {
-	[ -n "$1" ] || printf 'Starting %s: ' "$DAEMON"
-	start-stop-daemon -S -q -p "$PIDFILE" -x "$MDNSD" -- $MDNSD_ARGS
+	printf 'Starting %s: ' "$DAEMON"
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2086 # we need word splitting
+	start-stop-daemon --start --pidfile "$PIDFILE" \
+		--exec "$MDNSD" -- $MDNSD_ARGS
+	status=$?
+	if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+		echo "OK"
+	else
+		echo "FAIL"
+	fi
+	return "$status"
 }
 
 stop() {
-	[ -n "$1" ] || printf 'Stopping %s: ' "$DAEMON"
-	start-stop-daemon -K -q -p "$PIDFILE" -x "$MDNSD"
+	printf "Stopping %s: " "$DAEMON"
+	start-stop-daemon --stop --pidfile "$PIDFILE" \
+		--exec "$MDNSD"
+	status=$?
+	if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+		echo "OK"
+	else
+		echo "FAIL"
+		return "$status"
+	fi
+	# mdnsd deletes its PID file on exit, wait for it to be gone
+	while [ -f "$PIDFILE" ]; do
+		sleep 0.1
+	done
+	return "$status"
 }
 
 restart() {
-	printf 'Restarting %s: ' "$DAEMON"
-	stop  silent
-	start silent
+	stop
+	start
 }
 
 # SIGHUP reloads /etc/mdns.d/*.service
 reload() {
 	printf 'Reloading %s: ' "$DAEMON"
-	start-stop-daemon -K -s HUP -q -p "$PIDFILE" -x "$MDNSD"
+	start-stop-daemon --stop --signal HUP -q --pidfile "$PIDFILE" \
+		--exec "$MDNSD"
+	status=$?
+	if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
+		echo "OK"
+	else
+		echo "FAIL"
+	fi
+	return "$status"
 }
 
 case "$1" in
 	start|stop|restart|reload)
 		"$1"
-		status=$?
-		if [ "$status" -eq 0 ]; then
-			echo "OK"
-		else
-			echo "FAIL"
-		fi
 		;;
 	*)
 		echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|reload}"
 		exit 1
 		;;
 esac
-
-exit "$status"