diff --git a/salt/curator/files/bin/so-curator-closed-delete b/salt/curator/files/bin/so-curator-closed-delete
index 8f6d0a8ea..c2949a4fc 100755
--- a/salt/curator/files/bin/so-curator-closed-delete
+++ b/salt/curator/files/bin/so-curator-closed-delete
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@
 #fi
 
 # Avoid starting multiple instances
-if ! pgrep -f "so-curator-closed-delete-delete" >/dev/null; then
-	/usr/sbin/so-curator-closed-delete-delete
-fi
+APP=closeddelete
+lf=/tmp/$APP-pidLockFile
+# create empty lock file if none exists
+cat /dev/null >> $lf
+read lastPID < $lf
+# if lastPID is not null and a process with that pid exists , exit
+[ ! -z "$lastPID" -a -d /proc/$lastPID ] && exit
+echo $$ > $lf
+
+/usr/sbin/so-curator-closed-delete-delete