diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index a5cd4d3cd1..f8be487cb7 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 #ifndef WIN32
+#include <attributes.h>
+#include <cerrno>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #endif
@@ -1192,12 +1194,29 @@ bool AppInitLockDataDirectory()
     return true;
 }
 
+#ifndef WIN32
+NODISCARD static bool CreatePidFile()
+{
+    FILE* file = fsbridge::fopen(GetPidFile(), "w");
+    if (file) {
+        fprintf(file, "%d\n", getpid());
+        fclose(file);
+        return true;
+    } else {
+        return InitError(strprintf(_("Unable to create the PID file '%s': %s"), GetPidFile().string(), std::strerror(errno)));
+    }
+}
+#endif
+
 bool AppInitMain(InitInterfaces& interfaces)
 {
     const CChainParams& chainparams = Params();
     // ********************************************************* Step 4a: application initialization
 #ifndef WIN32
-    CreatePidFile(GetPidFile(), getpid());
+    if (!CreatePidFile()) {
+        // Detailed error printed inside CreatePidFile().
+        return false;
+    }
 #endif
     if (g_logger->m_print_to_file) {
         if (gArgs.GetBoolArg("-shrinkdebugfile", g_logger->DefaultShrinkDebugFile())) {
diff --git a/src/util/system.cpp b/src/util/system.cpp
index 06317a3a90..8268456919 100644
--- a/src/util/system.cpp
+++ b/src/util/system.cpp
@@ -963,16 +963,6 @@ fs::path GetPidFile()
 {
     return AbsPathForConfigVal(fs::path(gArgs.GetArg("-pid", BITCOIN_PID_FILENAME)));
 }
-
-void CreatePidFile(const fs::path &path, pid_t pid)
-{
-    FILE* file = fsbridge::fopen(path, "w");
-    if (file)
-    {
-        fprintf(file, "%d\n", pid);
-        fclose(file);
-    }
-}
 #endif
 
 bool RenameOver(fs::path src, fs::path dest)
diff --git a/src/util/system.h b/src/util/system.h
index 5932e55793..44ba740e4e 100644
--- a/src/util/system.h
+++ b/src/util/system.h
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ void ClearDatadirCache();
 fs::path GetConfigFile(const std::string& confPath);
 #ifndef WIN32
 fs::path GetPidFile();
-void CreatePidFile(const fs::path &path, pid_t pid);
 #endif
 #ifdef WIN32
 fs::path GetSpecialFolderPath(int nFolder, bool fCreate = true);
diff --git a/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.sh b/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.sh
index 1534d5ef68..2b6c78c2c8 100755
--- a/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.sh
+++ b/test/lint/lint-locale-dependence.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ KNOWN_VIOLATIONS=(
     "src/dbwrapper.cpp:.*vsnprintf"
     "src/httprpc.cpp.*trim"
     "src/init.cpp:.*atoi"
+    "src/init.cpp:.*fprintf"
     "src/qt/rpcconsole.cpp:.*atoi"
     "src/rest.cpp:.*strtol"
     "src/test/dbwrapper_tests.cpp:.*snprintf"
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@ KNOWN_VIOLATIONS=(
     "src/util/strencodings.cpp:.*strtoul"
     "src/util/strencodings.h:.*atoi"
     "src/util/system.cpp:.*atoi"
-    "src/util/system.cpp:.*fprintf"
 )
 
 REGEXP_IGNORE_EXTERNAL_DEPENDENCIES="^src/(crypto/ctaes/|leveldb/|secp256k1/|tinyformat.h|univalue/)"