diff --git a/src/oomd/plugins/BaseKillPlugin.cpp b/src/oomd/plugins/BaseKillPlugin.cpp
index e02d268f..2583fd6d 100644
--- a/src/oomd/plugins/BaseKillPlugin.cpp
+++ b/src/oomd/plugins/BaseKillPlugin.cpp
@@ -564,14 +564,20 @@ int BaseKillPlugin::tryToKillCgroup(
     }
 
     auto procsBeforeKill = Fs::readPidsCurrentAt(target.fd());
-    if (!procsBeforeKill) {
-      OLOG << "Failed to read pids from " << target.cgroup().absolutePath()
-           << ", skip killing cgroup";
-    } else if (*procsBeforeKill == 0) {
+    auto populated = Fs::readIsPopulatedAt(target.fd());
+
+    if (!populated) {
+      OLOG << "Failed to read cgroup.events in "
+           << target.cgroup().absolutePath()
+           << ", something is wrong. Skip killing cgroup.";
+    } else if (!populated.value()) {
       OLOG << "No pids in " << target.cgroup().absolutePath()
            << ", skip killing cgroup";
     } else if (kernelKillCgroup(target)) {
       OLOG << "Failed to kill cgroup " << target.cgroup().absolutePath();
+    } else if (!procsBeforeKill || procsBeforeKill.value() == 0) {
+      // Placeholder if we cannot figure out how many we actually killed
+      nrKilled = 1;
     } else {
       nrKilled = procsBeforeKill.value();
     }
diff --git a/src/oomd/plugins/CorePluginsTest.cpp b/src/oomd/plugins/CorePluginsTest.cpp
index b2b4f54a..9a5da270 100644
--- a/src/oomd/plugins/CorePluginsTest.cpp
+++ b/src/oomd/plugins/CorePluginsTest.cpp
@@ -714,7 +714,8 @@ TEST_F(DoubleKillTest, KillsTwice) {
       tempdir_,
       {F::makeDir(
           "A",
-          {F::makeFile("pids.current", "1\n"),
+          {F::makeFile("cgroup.events", "populated 1"),
+           F::makeFile("pids.current", "1\n"),
            F::makeFile("cgroup.kill", "0")})}));
 
   // Should do nothing, since it will write to cgroup.kill with no side effect.
@@ -734,6 +735,28 @@ TEST_F(DoubleKillTest, KillsTwice) {
   EXPECT_EQ(plugin->run(ctx_), Engine::PluginRet::STOP);
 }
 
+class NoPidControllerTest : public CorePluginsTest {};
+
+TEST_F(NoPidControllerTest, KillsWithoutPidController) {
+  // Despite not having a pid controller, we should still be able to kill
+  F::materialize(F::makeDir(
+      tempdir_,
+      {F::makeDir(
+          "A",
+          {F::makeFile("cgroup.kill", "0"),
+           F::makeFile("cgroup.events", "populated 1")})}));
+  auto plugin = std::make_shared<KernelKillPlugin>();
+  ASSERT_NE(plugin, nullptr);
+  const PluginConstructionContext compile_context(tempdir_);
+  Engine::PluginArgs args;
+  args["cgroup"] = "*";
+  args["recursive"] = "true";
+  args["kernelkill"] = "true";
+
+  ASSERT_EQ(plugin->init(args, compile_context), 0);
+  EXPECT_EQ(plugin->run(ctx_), Engine::PluginRet::STOP);
+}
+
 class PressureRisingBeyondTest : public CorePluginsTest {};
 
 TEST_F(PressureRisingBeyondTest, DetectsHighMemPressure) {