diff --git a/libexec/rpc.rstatd/rstat_proc.c b/libexec/rpc.rstatd/rstat_proc.c
index 0e3d36c540ed..aafb22ced904 100644
--- a/libexec/rpc.rstatd/rstat_proc.c
+++ b/libexec/rpc.rstatd/rstat_proc.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$NetBSD: rstat_proc.c,v 1.28 1999/03/24 05:50:50 mrg Exp $	*/
+/*	$NetBSD: rstat_proc.c,v 1.29 1999/03/25 08:07:47 bgrayson Exp $	*/
 
 /*
  * Sun RPC is a product of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and is provided for
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 static char sccsid[] = "from: @(#)rpc.rstatd.c 1.1 86/09/25 Copyr 1984 Sun Micro";
 static char sccsid[] = "from: @(#)rstat_proc.c	2.2 88/08/01 4.0 RPCSRC";
 #else
-__RCSID("$NetBSD: rstat_proc.c,v 1.28 1999/03/24 05:50:50 mrg Exp $");
+__RCSID("$NetBSD: rstat_proc.c,v 1.29 1999/03/25 08:07:47 bgrayson Exp $");
 #endif
 #endif
 
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ extern int dkinit __P((int, gid_t));
 
 void updatestat __P((int));
 void setup __P((void));
+void setup_kd_once __P((void));
 void stat_init __P((void));
 int havedisk __P((void));
 void rstat_service __P((struct svc_req *, SVCXPRT *));
@@ -322,17 +323,32 @@ updatestat(dummy)
 	alarm(1);
 }
 
+void
+setup_kd_once()
+{
+        char errbuf[_POSIX2_LINE_MAX];
+        kfd = kvm_openfiles(NULL, NULL, NULL, O_RDONLY, errbuf);
+        if (kfd == NULL) {
+                syslog(LOG_ERR, "%s", errbuf);
+                exit (1);
+        }
+}
+
 void
 setup()
 {
 	struct ifnet ifnet;
 	long off;
-	char errbuf[_POSIX2_LINE_MAX];
+        static int is_kfd_setup = 0;
 
-	kfd = kvm_openfiles(NULL, NULL, NULL, O_RDONLY, errbuf);
-	if (kfd == NULL) {
-		syslog(LOG_ERR, "%s", errbuf);
-		exit (1);
+        /*  setup() is called after each dormant->active
+         *  transition.  Since we never close the kvm files
+         *  (there's no reason), make sure we don't open them
+         *  each time, as that can lead to exhaustion of all open
+         *  files!  */
+        if (!is_kfd_setup) {
+                setup_kd_once();
+                is_kfd_setup = 1;
 	}
 
 	if (kvm_nlist(kfd, nl) != 0) {