diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh b/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
index cf24c098..a9e05692 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
@@ -71,28 +71,87 @@ removeKey() {
 }
 
 #######################
-# returns FTL's current telnet API port
+# returns path of FTL's port file
+#######################
+getFTLAPIPortFile() {
+    local FTLCONFFILE="/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf"
+    local DEFAULT_PORT_FILE="/run/pihole-FTL.port"
+    local FTL_APIPORT_FILE
+
+    if [ -s "${FTLCONFFILE}" ]; then
+        # if PORTFILE is not set in pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
+        FTL_APIPORT_FILE="$({ grep '^PORTFILE=' "${FTLCONFFILE}" || echo "${DEFAULT_PORT_FILE}"; } | cut -d'=' -f2-)"
+    else
+        # if there is no pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
+        FTL_APIPORT_FILE="${DEFAULT_PORT_FILE}"
+    fi
+
+      echo "${FTL_APIPORT_FILE}"
+}
+
+
+#######################
+# returns FTL's current telnet API port based on the content of the pihole-FTL.port file
+#
+# Takes one argument: path to pihole-FTL.port
+# Example getFTLAPIPort "/run/pihole-FTL.port"
 #######################
 getFTLAPIPort(){
-  local FTLCONFFILE="/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf"
-  local DEFAULT_PORT_FILE="/run/pihole-FTL.port"
-  local DEFAULT_FTL_PORT=4711
-  local PORTFILE
-  local ftl_api_port
+    local PORTFILE="${1}"
+    local DEFAULT_FTL_PORT=4711
+    local ftl_api_port
 
-  if [ -f "$FTLCONFFILE" ]; then
-    # if PORTFILE is not set in pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
-    PORTFILE="$( (grep "^PORTFILE=" $FTLCONFFILE || echo "$DEFAULT_PORT_FILE") | cut -d"=" -f2-)"
-  fi
+    if [ -s "$PORTFILE" ]; then
+        # -s: FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
+        ftl_api_port=$(cat "${PORTFILE}")
+        # Exploit prevention: unset the variable if there is malicious content
+        # Verify that the value read from the file is numeric
+        expr "$ftl_api_port" : "[^[:digit:]]" > /dev/null && unset ftl_api_port
+    fi
 
-  if [ -s "$PORTFILE" ]; then
-    # -s: FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
-    ftl_api_port=$(cat "${PORTFILE}")
-    # Exploit prevention: unset the variable if there is malicious content
-    # Verify that the value read from the file is numeric
-    expr "$ftl_api_port" : "[^[:digit:]]" > /dev/null && unset ftl_api_port
-  fi
-
-  # echo the port found in the portfile or default to the default port
-  echo "${ftl_api_port:=$DEFAULT_FTL_PORT}"
+    # echo the port found in the portfile or default to the default port
+    echo "${ftl_api_port:=$DEFAULT_FTL_PORT}"
+}
+
+#######################
+# returns path of FTL's PID  file
+#######################
+getFTLPIDFile() {
+  local FTLCONFFILE="/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf"
+  local DEFAULT_PID_FILE="/run/pihole-FTL.pid"
+  local FTL_PID_FILE
+
+  if [ -s "${FTLCONFFILE}" ]; then
+    # if PIDFILE is not set in pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
+    FTL_PID_FILE="$({ grep '^PIDFILE=' "${FTLCONFFILE}" || echo "${DEFAULT_PID_FILE}"; } | cut -d'=' -f2-)"
+  else
+    # if there is no pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
+    FTL_PID_FILE="${DEFAULT_PID_FILE}"
+  fi
+
+  echo "${FTL_PID_FILE}"
+}
+
+#######################
+# returns FTL's PID based on the content of the pihole-FTL.pid file
+#
+# Takes one argument: path to pihole-FTL.pid
+# Example getFTLPID "/run/pihole-FTL.pid"
+#######################
+getFTLPID() {
+    local FTL_PID_FILE="${1}"
+    local FTL_PID
+
+    if [ -s "${FTL_PID_FILE}" ]; then
+        # -s: FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
+        FTL_PID="$(cat "${FTL_PID_FILE}")"
+        # Exploit prevention: unset the variable if there is malicious content
+        # Verify that the value read from the file is numeric
+        expr "${FTL_PID}" : "[^[:digit:]]" > /dev/null && unset FTL_PID
+    fi
+
+    # If FTL is not running, or the PID file contains malicious stuff, substitute
+    # negative PID to signal this
+    FTL_PID=${FTL_PID:=-1}
+    echo  "${FTL_PID}"
 }
diff --git a/advanced/Templates/pihole-FTL.service b/advanced/Templates/pihole-FTL.service
index f5abfcea..7346dc20 100644
--- a/advanced/Templates/pihole-FTL.service
+++ b/advanced/Templates/pihole-FTL.service
@@ -9,48 +9,10 @@
 # Description:       Enable service provided by pihole-FTL daemon
 ### END INIT INFO
 
-# Global variables
-FTLCONFFILE="/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf"
-DEFAULT_PID_FILE="/run/pihole-FTL.pid"
-DEFAULT_PORT_FILE="/run/pihole-FTL.port"
-FTL_PID=''
-
-# Get the file path of the pihole-FTL.pid file
-getFTLPIDFile() {
-  if [ -s "${FTLCONFFILE}" ]; then
-    # if PIDFILE is not set in pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
-    FTL_PID_FILE="$({ grep '^PIDFILE=' "${FTLCONFFILE}" || echo "${DEFAULT_PID_FILE}"; } | cut -d'=' -f2-)"
-  else
-    # if there is no pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
-    FTL_PID_FILE="${DEFAULT_PID_FILE}"
-  fi
-}
-
-# Get the PID of the FTL process based on the content of the pihole-FTL.pid file
-getFTLPID() {
-  if [ -s "${FTL_PID_FILE}" ]; then
-    # -s: FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
-    FTL_PID="$(cat "${FTL_PID_FILE}")"
-    # Exploit prevention: unset the variable if there is malicious content
-    # Verify that the value read from the file is numeric
-    expr "${FTL_PID}" : "[^[:digit:]]" > /dev/null && unset FTL_PID
-  fi
-
-  # If FTL is not running, or the PID file contains malicious stuff, substitute
-  # negative PID to signal this
-  FTL_PID=${FTL_PID:=-1}
-}
-
-# Get the file path of the pihole-FTL.port file
-getFTLPortFile() {
-  if [ -s "${FTLCONFFILE}" ]; then
-    # if PORTFILE is not set in pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
-    FTL_PORT_FILE="$({ grep '^PORTFILE=' "${FTLCONFFILE}" || echo "${DEFAULT_PORT_FILE}"; } | cut -d'=' -f2-)"
-  else
-    # if there is no pihole-FTL.conf, use the default path
-    FTL_PORT_FILE="${DEFAULT_PORT_FILE}"
-fi
-}
+#source utils.sh for getFTLPIDFile(), getFTLPID (), getFTLAPIPortFile()
+PI_HOLE_SCRIPT_DIR="/opt/pihole"
+utilsfile="${PI_HOLE_SCRIPT_DIR}/utils.sh"
+. "${utilsfile}"
 
 
 is_running() {
@@ -148,11 +110,11 @@ status() {
 ### main logic ###
 
 # Get file paths
-getFTLPIDFile
-getFTLPortFile
+FTL_PID_FILE="$(getFTLPIDFile)"
+FTL_PORT_FILE="$(getFTLAPIPortFile)"
 
 # Get FTL's current PID
-getFTLPID
+FTL_PID="$(getFTLPID ${FTL_PID_FILE})"
 
 case "$1" in
   stop)
diff --git a/pihole b/pihole
index 35f6c07b..eb825965 100755
--- a/pihole
+++ b/pihole
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ readonly PI_HOLE_SCRIPT_DIR="/opt/pihole"
 # error due to modifying a readonly variable.
 setupVars="/etc/pihole/setupVars.conf"
 PI_HOLE_BIN_DIR="/usr/local/bin"
-readonly FTL_PID_FILE="/run/pihole-FTL.pid"
 
 readonly colfile="${PI_HOLE_SCRIPT_DIR}/COL_TABLE"
 source "${colfile}"
@@ -101,25 +100,8 @@ versionFunc() {
   exec "${PI_HOLE_SCRIPT_DIR}"/version.sh "$@"
 }
 
-# Get PID of main pihole-FTL process
-getFTLPID() {
-  local pid
-
-  if [ -s "${FTL_PID_FILE}" ]; then
-    # -s: FILE exists and has a size greater than zero
-    pid="$(<"$FTL_PID_FILE")"
-    # Exploit prevention: unset the variable if there is malicious content
-    # Verify that the value read from the file is numeric
-    [[ "$pid" =~ [^[:digit:]] ]] && unset pid
-  fi
-
-  # If FTL is not running, or the PID file contains malicious stuff, substitute
-  # negative PID to signal this to the caller
-  echo "${pid:=-1}"
-}
-
 restartDNS() {
-  local svcOption svc str output status pid icon
+  local svcOption svc str output status pid icon FTL_PID_FILE
   svcOption="${1:-restart}"
 
   # Determine if we should reload or restart
@@ -128,7 +110,11 @@ restartDNS() {
     # Note 1: This will NOT re-read any *.conf files
     # Note 2: We cannot use killall here as it does
     #         not know about real-time signals
-    pid="$(getFTLPID)"
+
+    # get the current path to the pihole-FTL.pid
+    FTL_PID_FILE="$(getFTLPIDFile)"
+
+    pid="$(getFTLPID ${FTL_PID_FILE})"
     if [[ "$pid" -eq "-1" ]]; then
       svc="true"
       str="FTL is not running"
@@ -141,7 +127,7 @@ restartDNS() {
   elif [[ "${svcOption}" =~ "reload" ]]; then
     # Reloading of the DNS cache has been requested
     # Note: This will NOT re-read any *.conf files
-    pid="$(getFTLPID)"
+    pid="$(getFTLPID ${FTL_PID_FILE})"
     if [[ "$pid" -eq "-1" ]]; then
       svc="true"
       str="FTL is not running"
@@ -316,33 +302,37 @@ analyze_ports() {
 }
 
 statusFunc() {
-  # Determine if there is pihole-FTL service is listening
-  local pid port ftl_api_port
+    # Determine if there is pihole-FTL service is listening
+    local pid port ftl_api_port ftl_pid_file ftl_apiport_file
 
-  pid="$(getFTLPID)"
-  ftl_api_port="$(getFTLAPIPort)"
-  if [[ "$pid" -eq "-1" ]]; then
-    case "${1}" in
-      "web") echo "-1";;
-      *) echo -e "  ${CROSS} DNS service is NOT running";;
-    esac
-    return 0
-  else
-    #get the DNS port pihole-FTL is listening on by using FTL's telnet API
-    port="$(echo ">dns-port >quit" | nc 127.0.0.1 "$ftl_api_port")"
-    if [[ "${port}" == "0" ]]; then
-      case "${1}" in
-        "web") echo "-1";;
-        *) echo -e "  ${CROSS} DNS service is NOT listening";;
-      esac
-      return 0
+    ftl_pid_file="$(getFTLPIDFile)"
+
+    pid="$(getFTLPID ${ftl_pid_file})"
+
+    ftl_apiport_file="${getFTLAPIPortFile}"
+    ftl_api_port="$(getFTLAPIPort ${ftl_apiport_file})"
+    if [[ "$pid" -eq "-1" ]]; then
+        case "${1}" in
+            "web") echo "-1";;
+            *) echo -e "  ${CROSS} DNS service is NOT running";;
+        esac
+        return 0
     else
-      if [[ "${1}" != "web" ]]; then
-        echo -e "  ${TICK} FTL is listening on port ${port}"
-        analyze_ports "${port}"
-      fi
+        #get the DNS port pihole-FTL is listening on by using FTL's telnet API
+        port="$(echo ">dns-port >quit" | nc 127.0.0.1 "$ftl_api_port")"
+        if [[ "${port}" == "0" ]]; then
+            case "${1}" in
+                "web") echo "-1";;
+                *) echo -e "  ${CROSS} DNS service is NOT listening";;
+            esac
+            return 0
+        else
+            if [[ "${1}" != "web" ]]; then
+                echo -e "  ${TICK} FTL is listening on port ${port}"
+                analyze_ports "${port}"
+            fi
+        fi
     fi
-  fi
 
   # Determine if Pi-hole's blocking is enabled
   if grep -q "BLOCKING_ENABLED=false" /etc/pihole/setupVars.conf; then
diff --git a/test/test_any_utils.py b/test/test_any_utils.py
index b30ff7fd..aaa496cc 100644
--- a/test/test_any_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_any_utils.py
@@ -54,13 +54,13 @@ def test_getFTLAPIPort_default(host):
     ''' Confirms getFTLAPIPort returns the default API port '''
     output = host.run('''
     source /opt/pihole/utils.sh
-    getFTLAPIPort
+    getFTLAPIPort "/run/pihole-FTL.port"
     ''')
     expected_stdout = '4711\n'
     assert expected_stdout == output.stdout
 
 
-def test_getFTLAPIPort_custom(host):
+def test_getFTLAPIPortFile_and_getFTLAPIPort_custom(host):
     ''' Confirms getFTLAPIPort returns a custom API port in a custom PORTFILE location '''
     host.run('''
     echo "PORTFILE=/tmp/port.file" > /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ def test_getFTLAPIPort_custom(host):
     ''')
     output = host.run('''
     source /opt/pihole/utils.sh
-    getFTLAPIPort
+    FTL_API_PORT=$(getFTLAPIPortFile)
+    getFTLAPIPort "${FTL_API_PORT}"
     ''')
     expected_stdout = '1234\n'
     assert expected_stdout == output.stdout