diff --git a/client/cros/service_stopper.py b/client/cros/service_stopper.py
index 570ef47..0593bc9 100644
--- a/client/cros/service_stopper.py
+++ b/client/cros/service_stopper.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
         for service in self.services_to_stop:
             cmd = 'status %s' % service
             out = utils.system_output(cmd, ignore_status=True)
-            is_stopped = out.find('start/running') != 0
+            is_stopped = 'start/running' not in out
             if is_stopped:
                 continue
             try: