diff --git a/tests/basic_deployment.py b/tests/basic_deployment.py
index 81b5002a..0c364731 100644
--- a/tests/basic_deployment.py
+++ b/tests/basic_deployment.py
@@ -543,7 +543,6 @@ class NeutronAPIBasicDeployment(OpenStackAmuletDeployment):
             u.log.debug("Checking that service restarted: {}".format(s))
             if not u.validate_service_config_changed(sentry, mtime, s,
                                                      conf_file,
-                                                     pgrep_full=True,
                                                      retry_count=4,
                                                      retry_sleep_time=20,
                                                      sleep_time=20):
diff --git a/tests/charmhelpers/contrib/amulet/utils.py b/tests/charmhelpers/contrib/amulet/utils.py
index 046cc270..c0e0a1f5 100644
--- a/tests/charmhelpers/contrib/amulet/utils.py
+++ b/tests/charmhelpers/contrib/amulet/utils.py
@@ -269,27 +269,27 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
         """Get last modification time of directory."""
         return sentry_unit.directory_stat(directory)['mtime']
 
-    def _get_proc_start_time(self, sentry_unit, service, pgrep_full=False):
-        """Get process' start time.
-
-           Determine start time of the process based on the last modification
-           time of the /proc/pid directory. If pgrep_full is True, the process
-           name is matched against the full command line.
+    def _get_proc_start_time(self, sentry_unit, service, pgrep_full=None):
+        """Get start time of a process based on the last modification time
+           of the /proc/pid directory.
            """
-        if pgrep_full:
-            cmd = 'pgrep -o -f {}'.format(service)
-        else:
-            cmd = 'pgrep -o {}'.format(service)
-        cmd = cmd + '  | grep  -v pgrep || exit 0'
-        cmd_out = sentry_unit.run(cmd)
-        self.log.debug('CMDout: ' + str(cmd_out))
-        if cmd_out[0]:
-            self.log.debug('Pid for %s %s' % (service, str(cmd_out[0])))
-            proc_dir = '/proc/{}'.format(cmd_out[0].strip())
-            return self._get_dir_mtime(sentry_unit, proc_dir)
+        if pgrep_full is True or pgrep_full is False:
+            # /!\ DEPRECATION WARNING (beisner):
+            # No longer implemented, as pidof is now used instead of pgrep.
+            # https://bugs.launchpad.net/charm-helpers/+bug/1474030
+            self.log.warn('/!\\ DEPRECATION WARNING:  pgrep_full bool is no '
+                          'longer implemented re: lp 1474030.')
+
+        pid_list = self.get_process_id_list(sentry_unit, service)
+        pid = pid_list[0]
+        proc_dir = '/proc/{}'.format(pid)
+        self.log.debug('Pid for {} on {}: {}'.format(
+            service, sentry_unit.info['unit_name'], pid))
+
+        return self._get_dir_mtime(sentry_unit, proc_dir)
 
     def service_restarted(self, sentry_unit, service, filename,
-                          pgrep_full=False, sleep_time=20):
+                          pgrep_full=None, sleep_time=20):
         """Check if service was restarted.
 
            Compare a service's start time vs a file's last modification time
@@ -299,6 +299,11 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
         # /!\ DEPRECATION WARNING (beisner):
         # This is prone to races in that no before-time is known.
         # Use validate_service_config_changed instead.
+
+        # NOTE(beisner) pgrep_full is no longer implemented, as pidof is now
+        # used instead of pgrep.  pgrep_full is still passed through to ensure
+        # deprecation WARNS.  lp1474030
+
         self.log.warn('/!\\ DEPRECATION WARNING:  use '
                       'validate_service_config_changed instead of '
                       'service_restarted due to known races.')
@@ -311,7 +316,7 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
             return False
 
     def service_restarted_since(self, sentry_unit, mtime, service,
-                                pgrep_full=False, sleep_time=20,
+                                pgrep_full=None, sleep_time=20,
                                 retry_count=2, retry_sleep_time=30):
         """Check if service was been started after a given time.
 
@@ -319,7 +324,7 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
           sentry_unit (sentry): The sentry unit to check for the service on
           mtime (float): The epoch time to check against
           service (string): service name to look for in process table
-          pgrep_full (boolean): Use full command line search mode with pgrep
+          pgrep_full: No longer implemented, passed for WARNs
           sleep_time (int): Seconds to sleep before looking for process
           retry_count (int): If service is not found, how many times to retry
 
@@ -328,8 +333,12 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
                 False if service is older than mtime or if service was
                 not found.
         """
+        # NOTE(beisner) pgrep_full is no longer implemented, as pidof is now
+        # used instead of pgrep.  pgrep_full is still passed through to ensure
+        # deprecation WARNS.  lp1474030
+
         unit_name = sentry_unit.info['unit_name']
-        self.log.debug('Checking %s restarted since %s on '
+        self.log.debug('Checking that %s service restarted since %s on '
                        '%s' % (service, mtime, unit_name))
         time.sleep(sleep_time)
         proc_start_time = None
@@ -378,12 +387,15 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
           bool: True if file was modified more recently than mtime, False if
                 file was modified before mtime,
         """
-        self.log.debug('Checking %s updated since %s' % (filename, mtime))
+        self.log.debug('Checking that %s file updated since '
+                       '%s' % (filename, mtime))
+        unit_name = sentry_unit.info['unit_name']
         time.sleep(sleep_time)
         file_mtime = self._get_file_mtime(sentry_unit, filename)
         if file_mtime >= mtime:
             self.log.debug('File mtime is newer than provided mtime '
-                           '(%s >= %s)' % (file_mtime, mtime))
+                           '(%s >= %s) on %s (OK)' % (file_mtime, mtime,
+                                                      unit_name))
             return True
         else:
             self.log.warn('File mtime %s is older than provided mtime %s'
@@ -391,7 +403,7 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
             return False
 
     def validate_service_config_changed(self, sentry_unit, mtime, service,
-                                        filename, pgrep_full=False,
+                                        filename, pgrep_full=None,
                                         sleep_time=20, retry_count=2,
                                         retry_sleep_time=30):
         """Check service and file were updated after mtime
@@ -401,7 +413,7 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
           mtime (float): The epoch time to check against
           service (string): service name to look for in process table
           filename (string): The file to check mtime of
-          pgrep_full (boolean): Use full command line search mode with pgrep
+          pgrep_full: No longer implemented, passed for WARNs
           sleep_time (int): Initial sleep in seconds to pass to test helpers
           retry_count (int): If service is not found, how many times to retry
           retry_sleep_time (int): Time in seconds to wait between retries
@@ -421,6 +433,11 @@ class AmuletUtils(object):
                 mtime, False if service is older than mtime or if service was
                 not found or if filename was modified before mtime.
         """
+
+        # NOTE(beisner) pgrep_full is no longer implemented, as pidof is now
+        # used instead of pgrep.  pgrep_full is still passed through to ensure
+        # deprecation WARNS.  lp1474030
+
         service_restart = self.service_restarted_since(
             sentry_unit, mtime,
             service,