diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/cm/container_manager_linux.go b/pkg/kubelet/cm/container_manager_linux.go
index a4f16b715d1..79accf4b7f8 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/cm/container_manager_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/cm/container_manager_linux.go
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ func getPidsForProcess(name, pidFile string) ([]int, error) {
 			runtime.HandleError(err)
 		}
 	}
-	return procfs.PidOf(name), nil
+	return procfs.PidOf(name)
 }
 
 // Ensures that the Docker daemon is in the desired container.
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container_bridge.go b/pkg/kubelet/container_bridge.go
index 55a1f4827b0..dc5259979c1 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container_bridge.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container_bridge.go
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/iptables"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/procfs"
+	"syscall"
 )
 
 var cidrRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`inet ([0-9a-fA-F.:]*/[0-9]*)`)
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ func createCBR0(wantCIDR *net.IPNet, babysitDaemons bool) error {
 	// For now just log the error. The containerRuntime check will catch docker failures.
 	// TODO (dawnchen) figure out what we should do for rkt here.
 	if babysitDaemons {
-		if err := exec.Command("pkill", "-KILL", "docker").Run(); err != nil {
+		if err := procfs.PKill("docker", syscall.SIGKILL); err != nil {
 			glog.Error(err)
 		}
 	} else if util.UsingSystemdInitSystem() {
diff --git a/pkg/util/procfs/procfs.go b/pkg/util/procfs/procfs.go
index 25530f86ef6..b60f53933d8 100644
--- a/pkg/util/procfs/procfs.go
+++ b/pkg/util/procfs/procfs.go
@@ -23,11 +23,14 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"syscall"
 	"unicode"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
+	utilerrors "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/errors"
 )
 
 type ProcFS struct{}
@@ -62,7 +65,43 @@ func (pfs *ProcFS) GetFullContainerName(pid int) (string, error) {
 	return containerNameFromProcCgroup(string(content))
 }
 
-func PidOf(name string) []int {
+// Find process(es) using a regular expression and send a specified
+// signal to each process
+func PKill(name string, sig syscall.Signal) error {
+	if len(name) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("name should not be empty")
+	}
+	re, err := regexp.Compile(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	pids := getPids(re)
+	if len(pids) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("unable to fetch pids for process name : %q", name)
+	}
+	errList := []error{}
+	for _, pid := range pids {
+		if err = syscall.Kill(pid, sig); err != nil {
+			errList = append(errList, err)
+		}
+	}
+	return utilerrors.NewAggregate(errList)
+}
+
+// Find process(es) with a specified name (exact match)
+// and return their pid(s)
+func PidOf(name string) ([]int, error) {
+	if len(name) == 0 {
+		return []int{}, fmt.Errorf("name should not be empty")
+	}
+	re, err := regexp.Compile("(^|/)" + name + "$")
+	if err != nil {
+		return []int{}, err
+	}
+	return getPids(re), nil
+}
+
+func getPids(re *regexp.Regexp) []int {
 	pids := []int{}
 	filepath.Walk("/proc", func(path string, info os.FileInfo, err error) error {
 		if err != nil {
@@ -98,7 +137,7 @@ func PidOf(name string) []int {
 			return nil
 		}
 		// Check if the name of the executable is what we are looking for
-		if filepath.Base(exe[0]) == name {
+		if re.MatchString(exe[0]) {
 			dirname := filepath.Base(filepath.Dir(path))
 			// Grab the PID from the directory path
 			pid, _ := strconv.Atoi(dirname)
diff --git a/pkg/util/procfs/procfs_test.go b/pkg/util/procfs/procfs_test.go
index 848326217b7..380b23e4143 100644
--- a/pkg/util/procfs/procfs_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/procfs/procfs_test.go
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@ package procfs
 import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
+	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
+	"syscall"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
@@ -66,7 +69,27 @@ func TestPidOf(t *testing.T) {
 	if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" || runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		t.Skipf("not supported on GOOS=%s", runtime.GOOS)
 	}
-	pids := PidOf(filepath.Base(os.Args[0]))
+	pids, err := PidOf(filepath.Base(os.Args[0]))
+	assert.Empty(t, err)
 	assert.NotZero(t, pids)
 	assert.Contains(t, pids, os.Getpid())
 }
+
+func TestPKill(t *testing.T) {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" || runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
+		t.Skipf("not supported on GOOS=%s", runtime.GOOS)
+	}
+	sig := syscall.SIGCONT
+	c := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(c, sig)
+	defer signal.Stop(c)
+	PKill(os.Args[0], sig)
+	select {
+	case s := <-c:
+		if s != sig {
+			t.Fatalf("signal was %v, want %v", s, sig)
+		}
+	case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatalf("timeout waiting for %v", sig)
+	}
+}