diff --git a/daemon2/daemon.go b/daemon2/daemon.go
index 4e5bd28d52ca8ffacdddfaabe89d4181b4fe71eb..04aade68c82027f8066cead5109f1711d7a60fdb 100644
--- a/daemon2/daemon.go
+++ b/daemon2/daemon.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 
 	lock "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/camlistore/lock"
+	"github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/util"
 )
 
 // LockFile is the filename of the daemon lock, relative to config dir
@@ -15,6 +16,9 @@ func Lock(confdir string) (io.Closer, error) {
 }
 
 func Locked(confdir string) bool {
+	if !util.FileExists(path.Join(confdir, LockFile)) {
+		return false
+	}
 	if lk, err := Lock(confdir); err != nil {
 		return true