diff --git a/lib/base/application.cpp b/lib/base/application.cpp
index 2ee689ec6..cfbc226ab 100644
--- a/lib/base/application.cpp
+++ b/lib/base/application.cpp
@@ -462,9 +462,15 @@ void Application::UpdatePidFile(const String& filename)
 	if (m_PidFile != NULL)
 		fclose(m_PidFile);
 
+#ifndef _WIN32
+	char *mode = "r+";
+#else /* _WIN32 */
+	char *mode = "w";
+#endif /* _WIN32 */
+
 	/* There's just no sane way of getting a file descriptor for a
 	 * C++ ofstream which is why we're using FILEs here. */
-	m_PidFile = fopen(filename.CStr(), "r+");
+	m_PidFile = fopen(filename.CStr(), mode);
 
 	if (m_PidFile == NULL)
 		BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(runtime_error("Could not open PID file '" + filename + "'"));
@@ -479,6 +485,8 @@ void Application::UpdatePidFile(const String& filename)
 
 		_exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
+
+	(void) ftruncate(fd, 0);
 #endif /* _WIN32 */
 
 	fprintf(m_PidFile, "%d", Utility::GetPid());