diff --git a/manifests/ovs.pp b/manifests/ovs.pp
index 9735e4af..554dd60a 100644
--- a/manifests/ovs.pp
+++ b/manifests/ovs.pp
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class vswitch::ovs(
           $ovs_status = '/sbin/status openvswitch-switch | fgrep "start/running"'
         }
         default: {
-          $ovs_status = '/etc/init.d/openvswitch-switch status | fgrep "is running"'
+          $ovs_status = '/etc/init.d/openvswitch-switch status | fgrep -q "not running"; if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then exit 1; else exit 0; fi'
         }
       }
       service { 'openvswitch':
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ class vswitch::ovs(
         enable    => true,
         name      => $::vswitch::params::ovs_service_name,
         hasstatus => false, # the supplied command returns true even if it's not running
-        # Not perfect - should spot if either service is not running - but it'll do
         status    => $ovs_status,
       }
 
diff --git a/spec/classes/vswitch_ovs_spec.rb b/spec/classes/vswitch_ovs_spec.rb
index 5cbb0281..0dc57ba1 100644
--- a/spec/classes/vswitch_ovs_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/vswitch_ovs_spec.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ describe 'vswitch::ovs' do
     :ovs_service_name      => 'openvswitch-switch',
     :provider              => 'ovs',
     :service_hasstatus     => false,
-    :service_status        => '/etc/init.d/openvswitch-switch status | fgrep "is running"',
+    :service_status        => '/etc/init.d/openvswitch-switch status | fgrep -q "not running"; if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then exit 1; else exit 0; fi',
   }
   end