diff --git a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t
index a4c1c6cd905..b9d844c750f 100644
--- a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t
+++ b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pgrep-F.t
@@ -9,16 +9,15 @@ name="pgrep -F <pidfile>"
 pidfile=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 sleep=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 ln -sf /bin/sleep $sleep
-$sleep 5 &
+daemon -p $pidfile $sleep 5
 sleep 0.3
-chpid=$!
-echo $chpid > $pidfile
+chpid=`cat $pidfile`
 pid=`pgrep -f -F $pidfile $sleep`
 if [ "$pid" = "$chpid" ]; then
 	echo "ok - $name"
 else
 	echo "not ok - $name"
 fi
-kill $chpid
+kill "$chpid"
 rm -f $pidfile
 rm -f $sleep
diff --git a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t
index 732d80757bb..ebde428e3ba 100644
--- a/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t
+++ b/tools/regression/usr.bin/pkill/pkill-F.t
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ name="pkill -F <pidfile>"
 pidfile=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 sleep=`mktemp /tmp/$base.XXXXXX` || exit 1
 ln -sf /bin/sleep $sleep
-$sleep 5 &
+daemon -p $pidfile $sleep 5
 sleep 0.3
-echo $! > $pidfile
 pkill -f -F $pidfile $sleep
 ec=$?
 case $ec in