diff --git a/src/anopa/start-stop.c b/src/anopa/start-stop.c
index 7cce2f7..e3c1c50 100644
--- a/src/anopa/start-stop.c
+++ b/src/anopa/start-stop.c
@@ -963,11 +963,23 @@ exec_cb (int si, aa_evt evt, pid_t pid)
         /* ugly hack thing; see aa_exec_service() */
         case 0:
             clear_draw ();
-            if (!(pid & AA_MODE_IS_DRY))
-                aa_bs_noflush (AA_OUT,
-                        (pid & AA_MODE_START) ? "Starting " : "Stopping ");
-            aa_bs_noflush (AA_OUT, aa_service_name (aa_service (si)));
-            aa_bs_flush (AA_OUT, (pid & AA_MODE_IS_DRY) ? "\n" : "...\n");
+            if ((pid & AA_MODE_START) && !(pid & AA_MODE_IS_DRY)
+                    /* see aa_ensure_service_loaded() for more */
+                    && s->st.type == AA_TYPE_LONGRUN
+                    && s->gets_ready
+                    && s->st.code == ERR_ALREADY_UP)
+            {
+                aa_bs_noflush (AA_OUT, aa_service_name (s));
+                aa_bs_flush (AA_OUT, ": Getting ready...\n");
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                if (!(pid & AA_MODE_IS_DRY))
+                    aa_bs_noflush (AA_OUT,
+                            (pid & AA_MODE_START) ? "Starting " : "Stopping ");
+                aa_bs_noflush (AA_OUT, aa_service_name (aa_service (si)));
+                aa_bs_flush (AA_OUT, (pid & AA_MODE_IS_DRY) ? "\n" : "...\n");
+            }
             break;
 
         case AA_EVT_STARTING:
diff --git a/src/libanopa/exec_longrun.c b/src/libanopa/exec_longrun.c
index d72b994..a17dc2e 100644
--- a/src/libanopa/exec_longrun.c
+++ b/src/libanopa/exec_longrun.c
@@ -76,10 +76,13 @@ _exec_longrun (int si, aa_mode mode)
     {
         tain_now_g ();
 
-        already = 1;
-        /* already there; unsubcribe */
-        ftrigr_unsubscribe_g (&_aa_ft, s->ft_id, &deadline);
-        s->ft_id = 0;
+        if (!is_start || !s->gets_ready || st6.flagready)
+        {
+            already = 1;
+            /* already there; unsubcribe */
+            ftrigr_unsubscribe_g (&_aa_ft, s->ft_id, &deadline);
+            s->ft_id = 0;
+        }
 
         /* make sure our status is correct, and timestamped before s6 */
         s->st.event = (is_start) ? AA_EVT_STARTING : AA_EVT_STOPPING;
@@ -97,6 +100,18 @@ _exec_longrun (int si, aa_mode mode)
          * happening right now. Also in STOP_ALL this sends the 'x' event to
          * s6-supervise as needed as well.
          */
+
+        if (is_start && s->gets_ready)
+            /* However, on START sending the command is possibly problematic
+             * regarding (externally set) readiness.
+             * E.g. if the service is ready, and readiness was set externally
+             * (e.g. via aa-setready) it would result in said readiness being
+             * "lost" when s6-supervise rewrites the status file.
+             * Similarly, if readiness was originally set via s6-supervise
+             * (notification-fd) and then unset externally, it could come back
+             * if s6-supervise was to rewrite the status file.
+             */
+            event = NULL;
     }
     else
     {
@@ -117,6 +132,7 @@ _exec_longrun (int si, aa_mode mode)
         }
     }
 
+    if (event)
     {
         char dir[l_sn + 1 + sizeof (S6_SUPERVISE_CTLDIR) + 8];
         int r;
diff --git a/src/libanopa/service.c b/src/libanopa/service.c
index eda7af5..1c1d940 100644
--- a/src/libanopa/service.c
+++ b/src/libanopa/service.c
@@ -248,6 +248,8 @@ aa_ensure_service_loaded (int si, aa_mode mode, int no_wants, aa_autoload_cb al_
             {
                 chk_st = 0;
                 is_up = st6.pid && !st6.flagfinishing;
+                if (is_up && aa_service (si)->gets_ready && st6.flagready)
+                    is_up = 2;
             }
             else if (errno != ENOENT)
             {
@@ -267,15 +269,27 @@ aa_ensure_service_loaded (int si, aa_mode mode, int no_wants, aa_autoload_cb al_
          * the right state, so skip that bit then */
         if (!(mode & AA_MODE_IS_DRY_FULL))
         {
-            if ((mode & AA_MODE_START) && is_up)
+            if (mode & AA_MODE_START)
             {
-                /* if already good, we "fail" because there's no need to load the
-                 * service, it's already good. This error will be silently ignored
-                 * */
-                aa_service (si)->ls = AA_LOAD_FAIL;
-                /* this isn't actually true, but we won't save it to file */
-                svst->code = ERR_ALREADY_UP;
-                return -ERR_ALREADY_UP;
+                /* if it is a longrun w/ readiness support that isn't yet ready,
+                 * we load the service to add it to the "transaction" since
+                 * we'll need to wait for its readyness.
+                 * We set the code to 0 or ERR_ALREADY_UP to indicate whether it
+                 * was alreayd up or not, so when starting it (in exec_cb) it
+                 * can actually be said "Starting" or "Getting ready" as needed.
+                 */
+                if (svst->type == AA_TYPE_LONGRUN && aa_service (si)->gets_ready && is_up < 2)
+                    svst->code = (is_up == 1) ? ERR_ALREADY_UP : 0;
+                else if (is_up)
+                {
+                    /* if already good, we "fail" because there's no need to
+                     * load the service, it's already good. This error will be
+                     * silently ignored */
+                    aa_service (si)->ls = AA_LOAD_FAIL;
+                    /* this isn't actually true, but we won't save it to file */
+                    svst->code = ERR_ALREADY_UP;
+                    return -ERR_ALREADY_UP;
+                }
             }
             else if ((mode & (AA_MODE_STOP | AA_MODE_STOP_ALL)) && !is_up)
             {