diff --git a/test/test_nodebuilder b/test/test_nodebuilder
index 5c174bd37..7060c47e6 100755
--- a/test/test_nodebuilder
+++ b/test/test_nodebuilder
@@ -184,7 +184,6 @@ case "${TARGET_KERNEL}" in
   MINGW*) throw_error 'Windows is not supported.' ;;
   *) throw_error 'Your operating system is not supported.' ;;
 esac
-bitcoind_pid_path="${bitcoin_data_directory}/bitcoind.pid"
 
 DOWNLOADED_NODEBUILDER='false'
 [ -f nodebuilder ] || {
@@ -226,27 +225,40 @@ fi
 [ "${DOWNLOADED_NODEBUILDER:-false}" = 'true' ] && rm nodebuilder
 kill_tail_process
 
-# Stop Bitcoin Core
-if [ -f "${bitcoind_pid_path}" ]; then
-  read -r bitcoind_pid < "${bitcoind_pid_path}"
-  if command -v bitcoin-cli > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-    bitcoin-cli stop
-    bitcoind_stop_sleep_seconds=2
-    bitcoind_stop_sleep_counter=0
-    while [ -f "${bitcoind_pid_path}" ]; do
-      sleep "${bitcoind_stop_sleep_seconds}"
-      # TODO: debug intermittent stalled stop issue
-      # shellcheck disable=SC2009
-      ps aux | grep "${bitcoind_pid}"
-      bitcoind_stop_sleep_counter=$((bitcoind_stop_sleep_counter + 1))
-      if [ "$((bitcoind_stop_sleep_seconds * bitcoind_stop_sleep_counter))" -ge 3600 ]; then
-        throw_error 'Stopping Bitcoin Core took over an hour.'
-      fi
-    done
-  else
-    throw_error 'Unable to find bitcoin-cli in PATH.'
-  fi
-fi
+BITCOIN_PID_PATH="${bitcoin_data_directory}/bitcoind.pid"
+readonly BITCOIN_PID_PATH
+
+[ -f "${BITCOIN_PID_PATH}" ] || {
+  sudo find / -name "bitcoind.pid" -type f 2> /dev/null
+  throw_error "Unable to find $(basename "${BITCOIN_PID_PATH}") in data directory."
+}
+read -r bitcoin_pid < "${BITCOIN_PID_PATH}"
+readonly bitcoin_pid
+
+BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_SECONDS=2
+readonly BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_SECONDS
+BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_MAXIMUM_SECONDS=3600
+readonly BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_MAXIMUM_SECONDS
+bitcoin_stop_sleep_elapsed=0
+
+command -v bitcoin-cli > /dev/null 2>&1 ||
+  throw_error 'Unable to find bitcoin-cli in PATH.'
+bitcoin_pname="$(ps -p "${bitcoin_pid}" -o comm=)" ||
+  throw_error "Found bitcoind.pid but cannot find running process with PID ${bitcoin_pid}."
+bitcoin-cli stop
+
+while [ "${bitcoin_pname}" = 'bitcoind' ] || [ "${bitcoin_pname}" = 'bitcoin-qt' ]; do
+  sleep "${BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_SECONDS}"
+  bitcoin_stop_sleep_elapsed="$((bitcoin_stop_sleep_elapsed + BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_SECONDS))"
+  # TODO: debug intermittent stalled stop issue
+  # ps aux shouldnt be used for scripting, per SC2009),
+  # but it's fine here since we're just printing to stdout for debug purposes
+  # shellcheck disable=SC2009
+  ps aux | grep "${bitcoin_pid}"
+  [ "${bitcoin_stop_sleep_elapsed}" -ge "${BITCOIN_STOP_SLEEP_MAXIMUM_SECONDS}" ] &&
+    throw_error 'Stopping Bitcoin Core took over an hour.'
+  bitcoin_pname="$(ps -p "${bitcoin_pid}" -o comm=)" || bitcoin_pname=''
+done
 
 if [ -s "${STDERR_TEST_FILENAME}" ]; then
   printf '%s\n' 'Printing the contents of stderr:'