diff --git a/hack/lib/etcd.sh b/hack/lib/etcd.sh
index b8b03fe85b..0685da4f13 100755
--- a/hack/lib/etcd.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/etcd.sh
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@ kube::etcd::validate() {
     exit 1
   }
 
-  # validate it is not running
-  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."
+  # validate etcd port is free
+  if netstat -nat | grep "[\.:]${ETCD_PORT:?} .*LISTEN" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    kube::log::usage "unable to start etcd as port ${ETCD_PORT} is in use. please stop the process listening on this port and retry."
+    kube::log::usage "`netstat -nat | grep "[\.:]${ETCD_PORT:?} .*LISTEN"`"
     exit 1
   fi