diff --git a/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c b/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c
index f8c163941..0664fc055 100644
--- a/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c
+++ b/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c
@@ -554,23 +554,25 @@ svc_start_check(void)
 			ewarnx("WARNING: %s will be started in the next runlevel", applet);
 	}
 
+	if (state & RC_SERVICE_STARTED) {
+		ewarn("WARNING: %s has already been started", applet);
+		exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
+	} else if (state & RC_SERVICE_INACTIVE && !in_background) {
+		ewarnx("WARNING: %s has already started, but is inactive", applet);
+	}
+
 	if (exclusive_fd == -1)
 		exclusive_fd = svc_lock(applet, !deps);
 	if (exclusive_fd == -1) {
-		if (state & RC_SERVICE_STOPPING)
+		if (errno != EWOULDBLOCK)
+			eerrorx("%s: failed to acquire lock: %s", applet, strerror(errno));
+		else if (state & RC_SERVICE_STOPPING)
 			ewarnx("WARNING: %s is stopping", applet);
 		else
 			ewarnx("WARNING: %s is already starting", applet);
 	}
 	fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_SETFD, fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_GETFD, 0) | FD_CLOEXEC);
 
-	if (state & RC_SERVICE_STARTED) {
-		ewarn("WARNING: %s has already been started", applet);
-		exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
-	} else if (state & RC_SERVICE_INACTIVE && !in_background) {
-		ewarnx("WARNING: %s has already started, but is inactive", applet);
-	}
-
 	rc_service_mark(applet, RC_SERVICE_STARTING);
 	hook_out = RC_HOOK_SERVICE_START_OUT;
 	rc_plugin_run(RC_HOOK_SERVICE_START_IN, applet);
@@ -631,6 +633,10 @@ svc_start_deps(void)
 					printf(" %s", svc->value);
 					continue;
 				}
+				/* FIXME(NRK): service_start() can return -1 on
+				 * failure and feeding that to rc_waitpid seems
+				 * very suspicious. needs investigation.
+				 */
 				pid = service_start(svc->value);
 				if (!rc_conf_yesno("rc_parallel"))
 					rc_waitpid(pid);
@@ -789,20 +795,22 @@ svc_stop_check(RC_SERVICE *state)
 	if (in_background && !(*state & (RC_SERVICE_STARTED | RC_SERVICE_INACTIVE)))
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
+	if (*state & RC_SERVICE_STOPPED) {
+		ewarn("WARNING: %s is already stopped", applet);
+		return 1;
+	}
+
 	if (exclusive_fd == -1)
 		exclusive_fd = svc_lock(applet, !deps);
 	if (exclusive_fd == -1) {
-		if (*state & RC_SERVICE_STOPPING)
+		if (errno != EWOULDBLOCK)
+			eerrorx("%s: failed to acquire lock: %s", applet, strerror(errno));
+		else if (*state & RC_SERVICE_STOPPING)
 			ewarnx("WARNING: %s is already stopping", applet);
 		eerrorx("ERROR: %s stopped by something else", applet);
 	}
 	fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_SETFD, fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_GETFD, 0) | FD_CLOEXEC);
 
-	if (*state & RC_SERVICE_STOPPED) {
-		ewarn("WARNING: %s is already stopped", applet);
-		return 1;
-	}
-
 	rc_service_mark(applet, RC_SERVICE_STOPPING);
 	hook_out = RC_HOOK_SERVICE_STOP_OUT;
 	rc_plugin_run(RC_HOOK_SERVICE_STOP_IN, applet);
diff --git a/src/shared/misc.c b/src/shared/misc.c
index 50e436105..7d6bb0947 100644
--- a/src/shared/misc.c
+++ b/src/shared/misc.c
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ svc_lock(const char *applet, bool ignore_lock_failure)
 	if (fd == -1)
 		return -1;
 	if (flock(fd, LOCK_EX | LOCK_NB) == -1) {
+		int saved_errno = errno;
 		if (ignore_lock_failure) {
 			/* Two services with a need b, and b's start()
 			 * calling restart --no-deps on a would cause
@@ -299,6 +300,7 @@ svc_lock(const char *applet, bool ignore_lock_failure)
 		}
 		eerror("Call to flock failed: %s", strerror(errno));
 		close(fd);
+		errno = saved_errno;
 		return -1;
 	}
 	return fd;