diff --git a/debuggerd/Android.bp b/debuggerd/Android.bp
index 5565cfd..f993820 100644
--- a/debuggerd/Android.bp
+++ b/debuggerd/Android.bp
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@
         "libbase",
         "libdebuggerd_client",
         "liblog",
+        "libprocinfo",
         "libselinux",
     ],
 
diff --git a/debuggerd/debuggerd.cpp b/debuggerd/debuggerd.cpp
index 6298ace..0cc5f69 100644
--- a/debuggerd/debuggerd.cpp
+++ b/debuggerd/debuggerd.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <android-base/parseint.h>
 #include <android-base/unique_fd.h>
 #include <debuggerd/client.h>
+#include <procinfo/process.h>
 #include <selinux/selinux.h>
 #include "util.h"
 
@@ -66,6 +67,24 @@
     usage(1);
   }
 
+  if (getuid() != 0) {
+    errx(1, "root is required");
+  }
+
+  // Check to see if the process exists and that we can actually send a signal to it.
+  android::procinfo::ProcessInfo proc_info;
+  if (!android::procinfo::GetProcessInfo(pid, &proc_info)) {
+    err(1, "failed to fetch info for process %d", pid);
+  }
+
+  if (proc_info.state == android::procinfo::kProcessStateZombie) {
+    errx(1, "process %d is a zombie", pid);
+  }
+
+  if (kill(pid, 0) != 0) {
+    err(1, "cannot send signal to process %d", pid);
+  }
+
   unique_fd piperead, pipewrite;
   if (!Pipe(&piperead, &pipewrite)) {
     err(1, "failed to create pipe");
diff --git a/libprocinfo/include/procinfo/process.h b/libprocinfo/include/procinfo/process.h
index fb140ff..db56fc1 100644
--- a/libprocinfo/include/procinfo/process.h
+++ b/libprocinfo/include/procinfo/process.h
@@ -35,8 +35,18 @@
 
 #if defined(__linux__)
 
+enum ProcessState {
+  kProcessStateUnknown,
+  kProcessStateRunning,
+  kProcessStateSleeping,
+  kProcessStateUninterruptibleWait,
+  kProcessStateStopped,
+  kProcessStateZombie,
+};
+
 struct ProcessInfo {
   std::string name;
+  ProcessState state;
   pid_t tid;
   pid_t pid;
   pid_t ppid;
diff --git a/libprocinfo/process.cpp b/libprocinfo/process.cpp
index c513e16..6e5be6e 100644
--- a/libprocinfo/process.cpp
+++ b/libprocinfo/process.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,24 @@
   return GetProcessInfoFromProcPidFd(dirfd.get(), process_info);
 }
 
+static ProcessState parse_state(const char* state) {
+  switch (*state) {
+    case 'R':
+      return kProcessStateRunning;
+    case 'S':
+      return kProcessStateSleeping;
+    case 'D':
+      return kProcessStateUninterruptibleWait;
+    case 'T':
+      return kProcessStateStopped;
+    case 'Z':
+      return kProcessStateZombie;
+    default:
+      LOG(ERROR) << "unknown process state: " << *state;
+      return kProcessStateUnknown;
+  }
+}
+
 bool GetProcessInfoFromProcPidFd(int fd, ProcessInfo* process_info) {
   int status_fd = openat(fd, "status", O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
 
@@ -60,7 +78,7 @@
   }
 
   int field_bitmap = 0;
-  static constexpr int finished_bitmap = 127;
+  static constexpr int finished_bitmap = 255;
   char* line = nullptr;
   size_t len = 0;
 
@@ -98,6 +116,9 @@
     } else if (header == "Gid:") {
       process_info->gid = atoi(tab + 1);
       field_bitmap |= 64;
+    } else if (header == "State:") {
+      process_info->state = parse_state(tab + 1);
+      field_bitmap |= 128;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/libprocinfo/process_test.cpp b/libprocinfo/process_test.cpp
index 5ffd236..9da9278 100644
--- a/libprocinfo/process_test.cpp
+++ b/libprocinfo/process_test.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include <chrono>
 #include <set>
 #include <thread>
 #include <vector>
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@
 
 #include <android-base/stringprintf.h>
 
+using namespace std::chrono_literals;
+
 #if !defined(__BIONIC__)
 #include <syscall.h>
 static pid_t gettid() {
@@ -82,3 +85,34 @@
     }
   }).join();
 }
+
+TEST(process_info, process_state) {
+  int pipefd[2];
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, pipe2(pipefd, O_CLOEXEC));
+  pid_t forkpid = fork();
+
+  ASSERT_NE(-1, forkpid);
+  if (forkpid == 0) {
+    close(pipefd[1]);
+    char buf;
+    TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY(read(pipefd[0], &buf, 1));
+    _exit(0);
+  }
+
+  // Give the child some time to get to the read.
+  std::this_thread::sleep_for(100ms);
+
+  android::procinfo::ProcessInfo procinfo;
+  ASSERT_TRUE(android::procinfo::GetProcessInfo(forkpid, &procinfo));
+  ASSERT_EQ(android::procinfo::kProcessStateSleeping, procinfo.state);
+
+  ASSERT_EQ(0, kill(forkpid, SIGKILL));
+
+  // Give the kernel some time to kill the child.
+  std::this_thread::sleep_for(100ms);
+
+  ASSERT_TRUE(android::procinfo::GetProcessInfo(forkpid, &procinfo));
+  ASSERT_EQ(android::procinfo::kProcessStateZombie, procinfo.state);
+
+  ASSERT_EQ(forkpid, waitpid(forkpid, nullptr, 0));
+}