diff --git a/src/etc/rc.d/rc.subr b/src/etc/rc.d/rc.subr
index 02058ba3..03a0e977 100644
--- a/src/etc/rc.d/rc.subr
+++ b/src/etc/rc.d/rc.subr
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#	$OpenBSD: rc.subr,v 1.25 2011/03/10 10:21:39 ajacoutot Exp $
+#	$OpenBSD: rc.subr,v 1.26 2011/03/14 11:28:44 ajacoutot Exp $
 
 # Default functions and variables used by rc.d(8) scripts.
 
@@ -37,20 +37,30 @@ rc_cmd() {
 		rc_check >/dev/null
 		;;
 	start)
-		if ! rc_check; then
-			type rc_pre >/dev/null && rc_pre
-			rc_start >/dev/null
-		fi
+		rc_check || \
+			(
+			if type rc_pre >/dev/null; then
+				rc_pre
+			fi
+			[ $? -eq 0 ] && rc_start >/dev/null
+			)
 		;;
 	stop)
-		rc_stop >/dev/null
-		i=0
-		while [ $i -lt 5 ]; do
-			rc_check || break
-			sleep 1
-			i=$((i+1))
-		done
-		type rc_post >/dev/null && rc_post || return 0
+		if rc_check; then rc_stop >/dev/null && \
+			(
+			i=0
+			while [ $i -lt 5 ]; do
+				rc_check || break
+				sleep 1
+				i=$((i+1))
+			done
+			if [ $i -lt 5 ]; then
+				if type rc_post >/dev/null; then \
+					rc_post
+				fi
+			fi
+			)
+		fi
 		;;
 	reload)
 		rc_check && rc_reload >/dev/null