diff --git a/man/openrc-run.8 b/man/openrc-run.8
index 259d23fc..0a9f5bcc 100644
--- a/man/openrc-run.8
+++ b/man/openrc-run.8
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ in this release is S6 from Skarnet software. To use this, set
 supervisor=s6.
 .It Ar s6_service_path
 The path to the s6 service directory if you are monitoring this service
-with S6. The default is /etc/svc.d/${RC_SVCNAME}.
+with S6. The default is /var/svc.d/${RC_SVCNAME}.
 .It Ar s6_svwait_options_start
 The options to pass to s6-svwait when starting the service via s6.
 .It Ar s6_svwait_options_stop
diff --git a/s6-guide.md b/s6-guide.md
index 4a37a9cc..9a09e32e 100644
--- a/s6-guide.md
+++ b/s6-guide.md
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@ s6_service_path - the path to the s6 service directory
 s6_svwait_options_start - the options to pass to s6-svwait when starting
 s6_svwait_options_stop - the options to pass to s6-svwait when stopping.
 
-The s6_service_path variable defaults to /etc/svc.d/${RC_SVCNAME} if it
+The s6_service_path variable defaults to /var/svc.d/${RC_SVCNAME} if it
 is not set in the service script. For example, if you want a service
 script called /etc/init.d/foobar to use s6 to monitor its daemon, the s6
-service should be the directory /etc/svc.d/foobar.
+service should be the directory /var/svc.d/foobar.
 
 See the documentation for s6 for more information about s6 service
 directories.
diff --git a/sh/s6.sh b/sh/s6.sh
index 780beab2..01527b6d 100644
--- a/sh/s6.sh
+++ b/sh/s6.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Copyright (c) 2015 William Hubbs <w.d.hubbs@gmail.com>
 # Released under the 2-clause BSD license.
 
-[ -z "${s6_service_path}" ] && s6_service_path="/etc/svc.d/${RC_SVCNAME}"
+[ -z "${s6_service_path}" ] && s6_service_path="/var/svc.d/${RC_SVCNAME}"
 
 s6_start()
 {
@@ -10,16 +10,17 @@ s6_start()
 		eerror "${s6_service_path} does not exist."
  	return 1
  fi
-	local rc
+	s6_service_link="${RC_SVCDIR}/s6-scan/${s6_service_path##*/}"
 	ebegin "Starting ${name:-$RC_SVCNAME}"
-	ln -sf "${s6_service_path}" "${RC_SVCDIR}"/s6-scan
-	s6-svscanctl -an "${RC_SVCDIR}"/s6-scan
-	rc=$?
+	ln -sf "${s6_service_path}" "${s6_service_link}"
+	s6-svc -u "${s6_service_link}"
 	if [ -n "$s6_svwait_options_start" ]; then
-		s6-svwait ${s6_svwait_options_start} "${s6_service_path}"
-		rc=$?
+		s6-svwait ${s6_svwait_options_start} "${s6_service_link}"
 	fi
-	eend $rc "Failed to start $RC_SVCNAME"
+	sleep 1.5
+	set -- $(s6-svstat "${s6_service_link}")
+	[ "$1" = "up" ]
+	eend $? "Failed to start $RC_SVCNAME"
 }
 
 s6_stop()
@@ -28,19 +29,20 @@ s6_stop()
 		eerror "${s6_service_path} does not exist."
  	return 1
  fi
-	local rc
+	s6_service_link="${RC_SVCDIR}/s6-scan/${s6_service_path##*/}"
 	ebegin "Stopping ${name:-$RC_SVCNAME}"
-	rm -rf "${RC_SVCDIR}/s6-scan/${s6_service_path##*/}"
-	s6-svscanctl -an "${RC_SVCDIR}"/s6-scan
-	rc=$? 
+	s6-svc -d "${s6_service_link}"
 	if [ -n "$s6_svwait_options_stop" ]; then
-		s6-svwait ${s6_svwait_options_stop} "${s6_service_path}"
-		rc=$?
+		s6-svwait ${s6_svwait_options_stop} "${s6_service_link}"
 	fi
-	eend $rc "Failed to stop $RC_SVCNAME"
+	sleep 1.5
+	set -- $(s6-svstat "${s6_service_link}")
+	[ "$1" = "down" ] && rm -fr "${s6_service_link}"
+	eend $? "Failed to stop $RC_SVCNAME"
 }
 
 s6_status()
 {
-	s6-svstat "${s6_service_path}"
+	s6_service_link="${RC_SVCDIR}/s6-scan/${s6_service_path##*/}"
+	s6-svstat "${s6_service_link}"
 }