diff --git a/tools/start-stop-daemon.c b/tools/start-stop-daemon.c
index 6bf55b7740..5f13b90be3 100644
--- a/tools/start-stop-daemon.c
+++ b/tools/start-stop-daemon.c
@@ -258,11 +258,11 @@ static void add_namespace(const char *path)
 		nsname = cur;
 	}
 
-	if (!memcmp(nsdirname, "ipcns/", strlen("ipcns/")))
+	if (!strncmp(nsdirname, "ipcns/", strlen("ipcns/")))
 		nstype = CLONE_NEWIPC;
-	else if (!memcmp(nsdirname, "netns/", strlen("netns/")))
+	else if (!strncmp(nsdirname, "netns/", strlen("netns/")))
 		nstype = CLONE_NEWNET;
-	else if (!memcmp(nsdirname, "utcns/", strlen("utcns/")))
+	else if (!strncmp(nsdirname, "utcns/", strlen("utcns/")))
 		nstype = CLONE_NEWUTS;
 	else
 		badusage("invalid namepspace path");