diff --git a/app/flatpak-builtins-kill.c b/app/flatpak-builtins-kill.c
index c1a1ee11..081911de 100644
--- a/app/flatpak-builtins-kill.c
+++ b/app/flatpak-builtins-kill.c
@@ -36,37 +36,91 @@
 #include "flatpak-builtins.h"
 #include "flatpak-instance.h"
 
+#define FLATPAK_BUILTIN_KILL_N_RETRIES 5
+#define FLATPAK_BUILTIN_KILL_RETRY_SLEEP_USEC (G_USEC_PER_SEC / 10)
+
 static GOptionEntry options[] = {
   { NULL }
 };
 
 static gboolean
-kill_instance (const char *id,
-               GError    **error)
+instance_equal (FlatpakInstance *a,
+                FlatpakInstance *b)
 {
-  g_autoptr(GPtrArray) instances = NULL;
-  int j;
-  int killed = 0;
+  return g_strcmp0 (flatpak_instance_get_id (a),
+                    flatpak_instance_get_id (b)) == 0;
+}
 
-  instances = flatpak_instance_get_all ();
+static GPtrArray *
+kill_instances (GPtrArray *kill_list)
+{
+  g_autoptr(GPtrArray) instances = flatpak_instance_get_all ();
+  g_autoptr(GPtrArray) remaining =
+    g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_object_unref);
 
-  for (j = 0; j < instances->len; j++)
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < kill_list->len; i++)
     {
-      FlatpakInstance *instance = (FlatpakInstance *) g_ptr_array_index (instances, j);
-      if (g_strcmp0 (id, flatpak_instance_get_app (instance)) == 0 ||
-          strcmp (id, flatpak_instance_get_id (instance)) == 0)
+      FlatpakInstance *to_kill = g_ptr_array_index (kill_list, i);
+      pid_t pid;
+
+      if (!g_ptr_array_find_with_equal_func (instances, to_kill,
+                                             (GEqualFunc) instance_equal,
+                                             NULL))
         {
-          pid_t pid = flatpak_instance_get_child_pid (instance);
-          kill (pid, SIGKILL);
-          killed++;
+          g_info ("Instance %s disappeared", flatpak_instance_get_id (to_kill));
+          continue;
         }
+
+      pid = flatpak_instance_get_child_pid (to_kill);
+      if (pid != 0)
+        {
+          kill (pid, SIGKILL);
+          g_info ("Instance %s killed", flatpak_instance_get_id (to_kill));
+          continue;
+        }
+
+      g_ptr_array_add (remaining, g_object_ref (to_kill));
     }
 
-  g_info ("Killed %d instances", killed);
+  return g_steal_pointer (&remaining);
+}
 
-  if (killed == 0)
+static gboolean
+kill_id (const char  *id,
+         GError     **error)
+{
+  g_autoptr(GPtrArray) instances = flatpak_instance_get_all ();
+  g_autoptr(GPtrArray) kill_list =
+    g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_object_unref);
+
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < instances->len; i++)
+    {
+      FlatpakInstance *instance = g_ptr_array_index (instances, i);
+
+      if (g_strcmp0 (id, flatpak_instance_get_app (instance)) != 0 &&
+          g_strcmp0 (id, flatpak_instance_get_id (instance)) != 0)
+        continue;
+
+      g_info ("Found instance %s to kill", flatpak_instance_get_id (instance));
+
+      g_ptr_array_add (kill_list, g_object_ref (instance));
+    }
+
+  if (kill_list->len == 0)
     return flatpak_fail (error, _("%s is not running"), id);
 
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < FLATPAK_BUILTIN_KILL_N_RETRIES && kill_list->len > 0; i++)
+    {
+      g_autoptr (GPtrArray) remaining = NULL;
+
+      if (i > 0)
+        g_usleep (FLATPAK_BUILTIN_KILL_RETRY_SLEEP_USEC);
+
+      remaining = kill_instances (kill_list);
+      g_clear_pointer (&kill_list, g_ptr_array_unref);
+      kill_list = g_steal_pointer (&remaining);
+    }
+
   return TRUE;
 }
 
@@ -77,7 +131,7 @@ flatpak_builtin_kill (int           argc,
                       GError      **error)
 {
   g_autoptr(GOptionContext) context = NULL;
-  const char *instance;
+  const char *id;
 
   context = g_option_context_new (_("INSTANCE - Stop a running application"));
   g_option_context_set_translation_domain (context, GETTEXT_PACKAGE);
@@ -97,9 +151,9 @@ flatpak_builtin_kill (int           argc,
       return FALSE;
     }
 
-  instance = argv[1];
+  id = argv[1];
 
-  return kill_instance (instance, error);
+  return kill_id (id, error);
 }
 
 gboolean