diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 3881d92e8..8bf7d387c 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -211,7 +211,9 @@ static void InitSignals()
 
 static void remove_pidfile()
 {
-	remove(Config->GetBlock("serverinfo")->Get<const Anope::string>("pid").c_str());
+	auto pidfile = Anope::ExpandData(Config->GetBlock("serverinfo")->Get<const Anope::string>("pid"));
+	if (!pidfile.empty())
+		remove(pidfile.c_str());
 }
 
 /* Create our PID file and write the PID to it. */