diff --git a/hack/lib/etcd.sh b/hack/lib/etcd.sh
index 03ad07c0f34..c2e9221cd2b 100755
--- a/hack/lib/etcd.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/etcd.sh
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ kube::etcd::validate() {
   }
 
   # validate it is not running
-  if pgrep etcd >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    kube::log::usage "etcd appears to already be running on this machine (`pgrep -l etcd`) (or its a zombie and you need to kill its parent)."
+  if pgrep -x etcd >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    kube::log::usage "etcd appears to already be running on this machine (`pgrep -xl etcd`) (or its a zombie and you need to kill its parent)."
     kube::log::usage "retry after you resolve this etcd error."
     exit 1
   fi