diff --git a/priv/templates/simplenode.runner b/priv/templates/simplenode.runner
index 184ee44..0fb9176 100755
--- a/priv/templates/simplenode.runner
+++ b/priv/templates/simplenode.runner
@@ -70,17 +70,16 @@ case "$1" in
             Linux|Darwin|FreeBSD|DragonFly|NetBSD|OpenBSD)
                 # PID COMMAND
                 PID=`ps ax -o pid= -o command=|\
-                    grep "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/.*/[b]eam"|awk '{print $1}'`
+                    grep "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/.*/[b]eam"|cut -d' ' -f1`
                 ;;
             SunOS)
                 # PID COMMAND
                 PID=`ps -ef -o pid= -o args=|\
-                    grep "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/.*/[b]eam"|awk '{print $1}'`
+                    grep "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/.*/[b]eam"|cut -d' ' -f1`
                 ;;
             CYGWIN*)
                 # UID PID PPID TTY STIME COMMAND
-                PID=`ps -efW|grep "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/.*/[b]eam"|\
-                    awk '{print $2}'`
+                PID=`ps -efW|grep "$RUNNER_BASE_DIR/.*/[b]eam"|cut -d' ' -f1`
                 ;;
         esac
         $NODETOOL stop