diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
index b6a743cc120..a2d2c5b7d71 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
+	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -321,7 +322,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) Start(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf, mysqldArgs ...strin
 		return client.Start(ctx, mysqldArgs...)
 	}
 
-	if err := mysqld.startNoWait(ctx, cnf, mysqldArgs...); err != nil {
+	if err := mysqld.startNoWait(cnf, mysqldArgs...); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -329,7 +330,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) Start(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf, mysqldArgs ...strin
 }
 
 // startNoWait is the internal version of Start, and it doesn't wait.
-func (mysqld *Mysqld) startNoWait(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf, mysqldArgs ...string) error {
+func (mysqld *Mysqld) startNoWait(cnf *Mycnf, mysqldArgs ...string) error {
 	var name string
 	ts := fmt.Sprintf("Mysqld.Start(%v)", time.Now().Unix())
 
@@ -355,6 +356,13 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) startNoWait(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf, mysqldArgs ..
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			// If we're here, and the lockfile still exists for the socket, we have
+			// to clean that up since we know at this point we need to start MySQL.
+			// Having this stray lock file present means MySQL fails to start. This
+			// only happens when running without mysqld_safe.
+			if err := cleanupLockfile(cnf.SocketFile, ts); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
 		mysqlBaseDir, err := vtenv.VtMysqlBaseDir()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -426,6 +434,46 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) startNoWait(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf, mysqldArgs ..
 	return nil
 }
 
+func cleanupLockfile(socket string, ts string) error {
+	lockPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s.lock", socket)
+	pid, err := os.ReadFile(lockPath)
+	if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
+		// If there's no lock file, we can early return here, nothing
+		// to clean up then.
+		return nil
+	} else if err != nil {
+		// Any other errors here are unexpected.
+		return err
+	}
+	p, err := strconv.Atoi(string(pid))
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("%v: error parsing pid from lock file: %v", ts, err)
+		return err
+	}
+	proc, err := os.FindProcess(p)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("%v: error finding process: %v", ts, err)
+		return err
+	}
+	err = proc.Signal(syscall.Signal(0))
+	if err == nil {
+		// If the process still exists, it's not safe to
+		// remove the lock file, so we have to keep it around.
+		log.Warningf("%v: not removing socket lock file: %v", ts, lockPath)
+		return nil
+	}
+	if !errors.Is(err, os.ErrProcessDone) {
+		// Any errors except for the process being done
+		// is unexpected here.
+		log.Errorf("%v: error checking process: %v", ts, err)
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// All good, process is gone and we can safely clean up the lock file.
+	log.Infof("%v: removing stale socket lock file: %v", ts, lockPath)
+	return os.Remove(lockPath)
+}
+
 // Wait returns nil when mysqld is up and accepting connections. It
 // will use the dba credentials to try to connect. Use wait() with
 // different credentials if needed.
@@ -642,7 +690,7 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) Init(ctx context.Context, cnf *Mycnf, initDBSQLFile string
 
 	// Start mysqld. We do not use Start, as we have to wait using
 	// the root user.
-	if err = mysqld.startNoWait(ctx, cnf); err != nil {
+	if err = mysqld.startNoWait(cnf); err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("failed starting mysqld: %v\n%v", err, readTailOfMysqldErrorLog(cnf.ErrorLogPath))
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld_test.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld_test.go
index 435090008f2..5ee21196ddd 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ limitations under the License.
 package mysqlctl
 
 import (
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -172,3 +174,22 @@ func TestParseBinlogEntryTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCleanupLockfile(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		os.Remove("mysql.sock.lock")
+	})
+	ts := "prefix"
+	// All good if no lockfile exists
+	assert.NoError(t, cleanupLockfile("mysql.sock", ts))
+
+	// If lockfile exists, but the process is not found, we clean it up.
+	os.WriteFile("mysql.sock.lock", []byte("123456789"), 0o600)
+	assert.NoError(t, cleanupLockfile("mysql.sock", ts))
+	assert.NoFileExists(t, "mysql.sock.lock")
+
+	// If the lockfile exists, and the process is found, we don't clean it up.
+	os.WriteFile("mysql.sock.lock", []byte(strconv.Itoa(os.Getpid())), 0o600)
+	assert.NoError(t, cleanupLockfile("mysql.sock", ts))
+	assert.FileExists(t, "mysql.sock.lock")
+}