diff --git a/net-irc/unrealircd/files/unrealircd.initd-r4 b/net-irc/unrealircd/files/unrealircd.initd-r4
index 7437b30..d7398a5 100644
--- a/net-irc/unrealircd/files/unrealircd.initd-r4
+++ b/net-irc/unrealircd/files/unrealircd.initd-r4
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ fi
 checkconfig() {
 	# command_args weirdness because we want to preserve the chroot arguments if it's set
 	# Only run the configtest for the main instance; it can't work right now for others (no way to specify config file)
-	[ ${SVCNAME} = unrealircd ] && su -s /bin/sh ${command_user:=root} -c "${command} ${command_args%${UNREALIRCD_COMMAND_ARGS}}" configtest
+	[ ${SVCNAME} = unrealircd ] && su -s /bin/sh ${command_user:=root} -c "${command} ${command_args%${UNREALIRCD_COMMAND_ARGS}} -c"
 }
 
 depend() {
@@ -42,7 +42,20 @@ depend() {
 	provide ircd
 }
 
+# It is unsafe for the unrealircd user to be able to write to its own
+# PID file, since root will be sending e.g. kill signals to the PID
+# listed in that file. Ensure that we overwrite the ownership and
+# permissions on /run/unrealircd from previous init scripts.
+start_pre() {
+	# commented out pending information about where to do pidfile vs. socket stuff
+	# checkpath --directory --owner root:root --mode 0700 "${UNREALIRCD_CHROOT}"/run/unrealircd
+
+	checkconfig || return $?
+}
+
 reload() {
+	checkconfig || return $?
+
 	ebegin "Reloading ${RC_SVCNAME}"
 	start-stop-daemon --signal HUP \
 			  --pidfile "${pidfile}" \