diff -Naur apache2-2.2.22.orig/debian/apache2.2-common.apache2.init apache2-2.2.22/debian/apache2.2-common.apache2.init
--- apache2-2.2.22.orig/debian/apache2.2-common.apache2.init	2016-07-12 14:44:10.905072398 +0200
+++ apache2-2.2.22/debian/apache2.2-common.apache2.init	2016-07-12 14:51:04.289285419 +0200
@@ -169,6 +169,19 @@
 	fi
 }
 
+apache_wait_for_pidfile() {
+	# wait up to 5 seconds until really started (i.e., PIDFILE exists)
+	i=0
+	while [ "$i" -lt "50" ];  do
+		if [ -e "$PIDFILE" ]; then
+			return 0
+		fi
+		i=$(($i+1))
+		sleep 0.1
+	done
+	return 1
+}
+
 close_fds () {
 	local fd
 	for fd in /proc/self/fd/*
@@ -195,7 +208,12 @@
 				log_progress_msg htcacheclean
 				start_htcacheclean || log_end_msg 1
 			fi
-                        log_end_msg 0
+			if ! apache_wait_for_pidfile ; then
+				log_end_msg 0
+				log_warning_msg "apache2 is running, but pidfile is not yet created"
+			else
+				log_end_msg 0
+			fi
                 else
                         log_end_msg 1
                 fi
@@ -286,7 +304,12 @@
 			if check_htcacheclean ; then
 				start_htcacheclean || log_end_msg 1
 			fi
-                        log_end_msg 0
+			if ! apache_wait_for_pidfile ; then
+				log_end_msg 0
+				log_warning_msg "apache2 is running, but pidfile is not yet created"
+			else
+				log_end_msg 0
+			fi
                 else
                         log_end_msg 1
                 fi