diff --git a/bin/emqx b/bin/emqx
index 6f953b777..9211bd338 100755
--- a/bin/emqx
+++ b/bin/emqx
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@ logwarn() {
     fi
 }
 
+logdebug() {
+    if [ "$DEBUG" -eq 1 ]; then
+        echo "DEBUG: $*"
+    fi
+}
+
 die() {
     set +x
     logerr "$1"
@@ -453,24 +459,37 @@ if [ "$IS_ENTERPRISE" = 'yes' ]; then
     CONF_KEYS+=( 'license.key' )
 fi
 
-
-## Find the running node from 'ps -ef'
-## The primary grep pattern is $RUNNER_ROOT_DIR because one can start multiple nodes at the same time
-# shellcheck disable=SC2009
-PS_LINE="$(ps -ef | $GREP '[e]mqx' | $GREP -v -E '(remsh|nodetool)' | $GREP -oE "\-[r]oot ${RUNNER_ROOT_DIR}.*" || true)"
-if [ -n "${PS_LINE}" ]; then
-    RUNNING_NODES_COUNT="$(echo -e "$PS_LINE" | wc -l)"
-else
-    RUNNING_NODES_COUNT=0
+## To be backward compatible, read and then unset EMQX_NODE_NAME
+if [ -n "${EMQX_NODE_NAME:-}" ]; then
+    export EMQX_NODE__NAME="${EMQX_NODE_NAME}"
+    unset EMQX_NODE_NAME
 fi
 
 # Turn off debug as the ps output can be quite noisy
 set +x
+
+## Find the running node from 'ps -ef'
+##  * The grep args like '[e]mqx' but not 'emqx' is to avoid greping the grep command itself
+##  * The running 'remsh' and 'nodetool' processes must be excluded
+if [ -n "${EMQX_NODE__NAME:-}" ]; then
+    # if node name is provided, filter by node name
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2009
+    PS_LINE="$(ps -ef | $GREP '[e]mqx' | $GREP -v -E '(remsh|nodetool)' | $GREP -E "\s\-s?name\s${EMQX_NODE__NAME}" | $GREP -oE "\-[r]oot ${RUNNER_ROOT_DIR}.*" || true)"
+else
+    # shellcheck disable=SC2009
+    PS_LINE="$(ps -ef | $GREP '[e]mqx' | $GREP -v -E '(remsh|nodetool)' | $GREP -oE "\-[r]oot ${RUNNER_ROOT_DIR}.*" || true)"
+fi
+logdebug "PS_LINE=$PS_LINE"
+RUNNING_NODES_COUNT="$(echo -e "$PS_LINE" | sed '/^\s*$/d' | wc -l)"
+[ "$RUNNING_NODES_COUNT" -gt 1 ] && logdebug "More than one running node found: count=$RUNNING_NODES_COUNT"
+
 if [ "$IS_BOOT_COMMAND" = 'yes' ]; then
     if [ "$RUNNING_NODES_COUNT" -gt 0 ] && [ "$COMMAND" != 'check_config' ]; then
-        tmp_nodename=$(echo -e "$PS_LINE" | $GREP -oE "\s\-s?name.*" | awk '{print $2}' || true)
-        echo "Node ${tmp_nodename} is already running!"
-        exit 1
+        running_node_name=$(echo -e "$PS_LINE" | $GREP -oE "\s\-s?name.*" | awk '{print $2}' || true)
+        if [ -n "$running_node_name" ] && [ "$running_node_name" = "${EMQX_NODE__NAME:-}" ]; then
+            echo "Node ${running_node_name} is already running!"
+            exit 1
+        fi
     fi
     [ -f "$EMQX_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf ] || die "emqx.conf is not found in $EMQX_ETC_DIR" 1
     maybe_use_portable_dynlibs
@@ -502,8 +521,6 @@ else
     #    then update the config in the file to 'node.name = "emqx@local.net"', after this change,
     #    there would be no way stop the running node 'emqx@127.0.0.1', because 'emqx stop' command
     #    would try to stop the new node instead.
-    #  * The grep args like '[e]mqx' but not 'emqx' is to avoid greping the grep command itself
-    #  * The running 'remsh' and 'nodetool' processes must be excluded
     if [ "$RUNNING_NODES_COUNT" -eq 1 ]; then
         ## only one emqx node is running, get running args from 'ps -ef' output
         tmp_nodename=$(echo -e "$PS_LINE" | $GREP -oE "\s\-s?name.*" | awk '{print $2}' || true)
@@ -520,14 +537,22 @@ else
         ## Make the format like what call_hocon multi_get prints out, but only need 4 args
         EMQX_BOOT_CONFIGS="node.name=${tmp_nodename}\nnode.cookie=${tmp_cookie}\ncluster.proto_dist=${tmp_proto}\nnode.dist_net_ticktime=$tmp_ticktime\nnode.data_dir=${tmp_datadir}"
     else
-        ## None or more than one node is running, resolve from boot config
-        ## we have no choiece but to read the bootstrap config (with environment overrides available in the current shell)
+        if [ "$RUNNING_NODES_COUNT" -gt 1 ]; then
+            if [ -z "${EMQX_NODE__NAME:-}" ]; then
+                tmp_nodenames=$(echo -e "$PS_LINE" | $GREP -oE "\s\-s?name.*" | awk '{print $2}' | tr '\n' ' ')
+                logerr "More than one EMQX node found running (root dir: ${RUNNER_ROOT_DIR})"
+                logerr "Running nodes: $tmp_nodenames"
+                logerr "Make sure environment variable EMQX_NODE__NAME is set to indicate for which node this command is intended."
+                exit 1
+            fi
+        fi
+        ## We have no choiece but to read the bootstrap config (with environment overrides available in the current shell)
         [ -f "$EMQX_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf ] || die "emqx.conf is not found in $EMQX_ETC_DIR" 1
         maybe_use_portable_dynlibs
         EMQX_BOOT_CONFIGS="$(call_hocon -s "$SCHEMA_MOD" -c "$EMQX_ETC_DIR"/emqx.conf multi_get "${CONF_KEYS[@]}")"
     fi
 fi
-[ "$DEBUG" -eq 1 ] && echo "EMQX_BOOT_CONFIGS: $EMQX_BOOT_CONFIGS"
+logdebug "EMQX_BOOT_CONFIGS: $EMQX_BOOT_CONFIGS"
 [ "$DEBUG" -eq 1 ] && set -x
 
 get_boot_config() {
@@ -877,11 +902,6 @@ maybe_log_to_console() {
     fi
 }
 
-## To be backward compatible, read and then unset EMQX_NODE_NAME
-if [ -n "${EMQX_NODE_NAME:-}" ]; then
-    export EMQX_NODE__NAME="${EMQX_NODE_NAME}"
-    unset EMQX_NODE_NAME
-fi
 ## Possible ways to configure emqx node name:
 ## 1. configure node.name in emqx.conf
 ## 2. override with environment variable EMQX_NODE__NAME