diff --git a/upstart/cloud-init-nonet.conf b/upstart/cloud-init-nonet.conf
index 36b99fb5..a94b1474 100644
--- a/upstart/cloud-init-nonet.conf
+++ b/upstart/cloud-init-nonet.conf
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ script
    handle_sigterm() {
       # if we received sigterm and static networking is up then it probably
       # came from upstart as a result of 'stop on static-network-up'
-      [ -z "$SLEEP_CHILD" ] || kill $SLEEP_CHILD
+      if [ -n "$SLEEP_CHILD" ]; then
+          if ! kill $SLEEP_CHILD 2>/dev/null; then
+              [ ! -d "/proc/$SLEEP_CHILD" ] ||
+                  msg "hm.. failed to kill sleep pid $SLEEP_CHILD"
+          fi
+      fi
       if static_network_up; then
          msg "static networking is now up"
          exit 0