diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 34b733980f..1e4ad70854 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -368,6 +368,7 @@ AM_CPPFLAGS += \
 	-DLOCALSTATEDIR=\"$(localstatedir)\" \
 	-DSBINDIR=\"$(sbindir)\" \
 	-DSYSCONFDIR=\"$(sysconfdir)\" \
+	-DRUNDIR=\"$(rundir)\" \
 	\
 	-DNMCONFDIR=\"$(nmconfdir)\" \
 	-DNMLOCALEDIR=\"$(datadir)/locale\" \
diff --git a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-dhcpcd.c b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-dhcpcd.c
index 6cb721cabc..a62e315f74 100644
--- a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-dhcpcd.c
+++ b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-dhcpcd.c
@@ -103,7 +103,10 @@ ip4_start (NMDHCPClient *client,
 
 	iface = nm_dhcp_client_get_iface (client);
 
-	priv->pid_file = g_strdup_printf (NMSTATEDIR "/dhcpcd-%s.pid", iface);
+	/* dhcpcd does not allow custom pidfiles; the pidfile is always
+	 * RUNDIR "dhcpcd-<ifname>.pid".
+	 */
+	priv->pid_file = g_strdup_printf (RUNDIR "/dhcpcd-%s.pid", iface);
 
 	if (!g_file_test (priv->path, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
 		nm_log_warn (LOGD_DHCP4, "%s does not exist.", priv->path);