diff --git a/cni/ipam/plugin/main.go b/cni/ipam/plugin/main.go
index 7278cb956e..15602aee93 100644
--- a/cni/ipam/plugin/main.go
+++ b/cni/ipam/plugin/main.go
@@ -42,11 +42,19 @@ func main() {
 
 	if err := ipamPlugin.Plugin.InitializeKeyValueStore(&config); err != nil {
 		fmt.Printf("Failed to initialize key-value store of ipam plugin, err:%v.\n", err)
+
+		if isSafe, err := ipamPlugin.Plugin.IsSafeToRemoveLock(ipamPlugin.Plugin.Name); isSafe {
+			log.Printf("[IPAM] Removing lock file as process holding lock exited")
+			if errUninit := ipamPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(true); errUninit != nil {
+				log.Errorf("Failed to uninitialize key-value store of network plugin, err:%v.\n", errUninit)
+			}
+		}
+
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
 	defer func() {
-		if errUninit := ipamPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(); errUninit != nil {
+		if errUninit := ipamPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(false); errUninit != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("Failed to uninitialize key-value store of ipam plugin, err:%v.\n", err)
 		}
 
diff --git a/cni/network/plugin/main.go b/cni/network/plugin/main.go
index 211a763995..14c6fc84c2 100644
--- a/cni/network/plugin/main.go
+++ b/cni/network/plugin/main.go
@@ -187,20 +187,19 @@ func main() {
 			reportPluginError(reportManager, tb, err)
 			tb.Close()
 		}
-		return
-	}
 
-	// Start telemetry process if not already started. This should be done inside lock, otherwise multiple process
-	// end up creating/killing telemetry process results in undesired state.
-	tb := telemetry.NewTelemetryBuffer("")
-	tb.ConnectToTelemetryService(telemetryNumRetries, telemetryWaitTimeInMilliseconds)
-	defer tb.Close()
+		if isSafe, err := netPlugin.Plugin.IsSafeToRemoveLock(name); isSafe {
+			log.Printf("[CNI] Removing lock file as process holding lock exited")
+			if errUninit := netPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(true); errUninit != nil {
+				log.Errorf("Failed to uninitialize key-value store of network plugin, err:%v.\n", errUninit)
+			}
+		}
 
-	t := time.Now()
-	cniReport.Timestamp = t.Format("2006-01-02 15:04:05")
+		return
+	}
 
 	defer func() {
-		if errUninit := netPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(); errUninit != nil {
+		if errUninit := netPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(false); errUninit != nil {
 			log.Errorf("Failed to uninitialize key-value store of network plugin, err:%v.\n", errUninit)
 		}
 
@@ -209,6 +208,15 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}()
 
+	// Start telemetry process if not already started. This should be done inside lock, otherwise multiple process
+	// end up creating/killing telemetry process results in undesired state.
+	tb := telemetry.NewTelemetryBuffer("")
+	tb.ConnectToTelemetryService(telemetryNumRetries, telemetryWaitTimeInMilliseconds)
+	defer tb.Close()
+
+	t := time.Now()
+	cniReport.Timestamp = t.Format("2006-01-02 15:04:05")
+
 	if err = netPlugin.Start(&config); err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("Failed to start network plugin, err:%v.\n", err)
 		reportPluginError(reportManager, tb, err)
@@ -228,7 +236,7 @@ func main() {
 	netPlugin.Stop()
 
 	// release cni lock
-	if errUninit := netPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(); errUninit != nil {
+	if errUninit := netPlugin.Plugin.UninitializeKeyValueStore(false); errUninit != nil {
 		log.Errorf("Failed to uninitialize key-value store of network plugin, err:%v.\n", errUninit)
 	}
 
diff --git a/cni/plugin.go b/cni/plugin.go
index 0a6cb7f0cb..a1ed3fe338 100644
--- a/cni/plugin.go
+++ b/cni/plugin.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package cni
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"runtime"
 
@@ -186,9 +187,9 @@ func (plugin *Plugin) InitializeKeyValueStore(config *common.PluginConfig) error
 }
 
 // Uninitialize key-value store
-func (plugin *Plugin) UninitializeKeyValueStore() error {
+func (plugin *Plugin) UninitializeKeyValueStore(force bool) error {
 	if plugin.Store != nil {
-		err := plugin.Store.Unlock(false)
+		err := plugin.Store.Unlock(force)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("[cni] Failed to unlock store: %v.", err)
 			return err
@@ -198,3 +199,44 @@ func (plugin *Plugin) UninitializeKeyValueStore() error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// check if safe to remove lockfile
+func (plugin *Plugin) IsSafeToRemoveLock(processName string) (bool, error) {
+	if plugin != nil && plugin.Store != nil {
+		// check if get process command supported
+		if cmdErr := platform.GetProcessSupport(); cmdErr != nil {
+			log.Errorf("Get process cmd not supported. Error %v", cmdErr)
+			return false, cmdErr
+		}
+
+		// Read pid from lockfile
+		lockFileName := plugin.Store.GetLockFileName()
+		content, err := ioutil.ReadFile(lockFileName)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Errorf("Failed to read lock file :%v, ", err)
+			return false, err
+		}
+
+		if len(content) <= 0 {
+			log.Errorf("Num bytes read from lock file is 0")
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("Num bytes read from lock file is 0")
+		}
+
+		log.Printf("Read from Lock file:%s", content)
+		// Get the process name if running and
+		// check if that matches with our expected process
+		pName, err := platform.GetProcessNameByID(string(content))
+		if err != nil {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+
+		log.Printf("[CNI] Process name is %s", pName)
+
+		if pName != processName {
+			return true, nil
+		}
+	}
+
+	log.Errorf("Plugin store is nil")
+	return false, fmt.Errorf("plugin store nil")
+}
diff --git a/platform/os_linux.go b/platform/os_linux.go
index fc8cbaf898..1a00609ddb 100644
--- a/platform/os_linux.go
+++ b/platform/os_linux.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -44,6 +45,12 @@ func GetOSInfo() string {
 	return string(info)
 }
 
+func GetProcessSupport() error {
+	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("ps -p %v -o comm=", os.Getpid())
+	_, err := ExecuteCommand(cmd)
+	return err
+}
+
 // GetLastRebootTime returns the last time the system rebooted.
 func GetLastRebootTime() (time.Time, error) {
 	// Query last reboot time.
@@ -127,3 +134,18 @@ func GetOSDetails() (map[string]string, error) {
 
 	return osInfoArr, nil
 }
+
+func GetProcessNameByID(pidstr string) (string, error) {
+	pidstr = strings.Trim(pidstr, "\n")
+	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("ps -p %s -o comm=", pidstr)
+	out, err := ExecuteCommand(cmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("GetProcessNameByID returned error: %v", err)
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	out = strings.Trim(out, "\n")
+	out = strings.TrimSpace(out)
+
+	return out, nil
+}
diff --git a/platform/os_test.go b/platform/os_test.go
index 124f6153b7..38048eaecd 100644
--- a/platform/os_test.go
+++ b/platform/os_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package platform
 
 import (
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -23,3 +25,14 @@ func TestGetOSDetails(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("GetOSDetails failed :%v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestGetProcessNameByID(t *testing.T) {
+	pName, err := GetProcessNameByID(strconv.Itoa(os.Getpid()))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("GetProcessNameByID failed: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if !strings.Contains(pName, "platform.test") {
+		t.Errorf("Incorrect process name:%v\n", pName)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/platform/os_windows.go b/platform/os_windows.go
index e8bc2c6f4a..0900e74462 100644
--- a/platform/os_windows.go
+++ b/platform/os_windows.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package platform
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -60,6 +61,12 @@ func GetOSInfo() string {
 	return "windows"
 }
 
+func GetProcessSupport() error {
+	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("Get-Process -Id %v", os.Getpid())
+	_, err := executePowershellCommand(cmd)
+	return err
+}
+
 // GetLastRebootTime returns the last time the system rebooted.
 func GetLastRebootTime() (time.Time, error) {
 	out, err := exec.Command("cmd", "/c", "wmic os get lastbootuptime").Output()
@@ -145,12 +152,18 @@ func executePowershellCommand(command string) (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("Failed to find powershell executable")
 	}
 
+	log.Printf("[Azure-Utils] %s", command)
+
 	cmd := exec.Command(ps, command)
 	var stdout bytes.Buffer
 	var stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
-	cmd.Run()
+
+	err = cmd.Run()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("%s:%s", err.Error(), stderr.String())
+	}
 
 	return strings.TrimSpace(stdout.String()), nil
 }
@@ -186,3 +199,30 @@ func SetSdnRemoteArpMacAddress() error {
 func GetOSDetails() (map[string]string, error) {
 	return nil, nil
 }
+
+func GetProcessNameByID(pidstr string) (string, error) {
+	pidstr = strings.Trim(pidstr, "\r\n")
+	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("Get-Process -Id %s|Format-List", pidstr)
+	out, err := executePowershellCommand(cmd)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Process is not running. Output:%v, Error %v", out, err)
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	if len(out) <= 0 {
+		log.Printf("Output length is 0")
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("get-process output length is 0")
+	}
+
+	lines := strings.Split(out, "\n")
+	for _, line := range lines {
+		if strings.Contains(line, "Name") {
+			pName := strings.Split(line, ":")
+			if len(pName) > 1 {
+				return strings.TrimSpace(pName[1]), nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("Process not found")
+}
diff --git a/store/json.go b/store/json.go
index 65f18b4d55..8945ad26ee 100644
--- a/store/json.go
+++ b/store/json.go
@@ -241,3 +241,7 @@ func (kvs *jsonFileStore) GetLockFileModificationTime() (time.Time, error) {
 
 	return info.ModTime().UTC(), nil
 }
+
+func (kvs *jsonFileStore) GetLockFileName() string {
+	return kvs.fileName + lockExtension
+}
diff --git a/store/store.go b/store/store.go
index 2e505ba2ed..ef648a161c 100644
--- a/store/store.go
+++ b/store/store.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ type KeyValueStore interface {
 	Unlock(forceUnlock bool) error
 	GetModificationTime() (time.Time, error)
 	GetLockFileModificationTime() (time.Time, error)
+	GetLockFileName() string
 }
 
 var (