diff --git a/collector/processes_linux.go b/collector/processes_linux.go
index 965d31dc..9d838d5b 100644
--- a/collector/processes_linux.go
+++ b/collector/processes_linux.go
@@ -112,12 +112,12 @@ func (c *processCollector) getAllocatedThreads() (int, map[string]int32, int, er
 	procStates := make(map[string]int32)
 	for _, pid := range p {
 		stat, err := pid.Stat()
-		// PIDs can vanish between getting the list and getting stats.
-		if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) || errorContains(err, syscall.ESRCH) {
-			level.Debug(c.logger).Log("msg", "file not found when retrieving stats for pid", "pid", pid, "err", err)
-			continue
-		}
 		if err != nil {
+			// PIDs can vanish between getting the list and getting stats.
+			if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) || strings.Contains(err.Error(), syscall.ESRCH.Error()) {
+				level.Debug(c.logger).Log("msg", "file not found when retrieving stats for pid", "pid", pid, "err", err)
+				continue
+			}
 			level.Debug(c.logger).Log("msg", "error reading stat for pid", "pid", pid, "err", err)
 			return 0, nil, 0, err
 		}
@@ -127,7 +127,3 @@ func (c *processCollector) getAllocatedThreads() (int, map[string]int32, int, er
 	}
 	return pids, procStates, thread, nil
 }
-
-func errorContains(err, target error) bool {
-	return err != nil && target != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), target.Error())
-}
diff --git a/collector/processes_linux_test.go b/collector/processes_linux_test.go
index 16151962..2727dd1a 100644
--- a/collector/processes_linux_test.go
+++ b/collector/processes_linux_test.go
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 package collector
 
 import (
-	"errors"
-	"syscall"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/go-kit/kit/log"
@@ -54,28 +52,3 @@ func TestReadProcessStatus(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Total running pids cannot be greater than %d or equals to 0", maxPid)
 	}
 }
-
-func Test_errorContains(t *testing.T) {
-	testCases := []struct {
-		err      error
-		target   error
-		expected bool
-	}{
-		{err: nil, target: nil, expected: false},
-		{err: errors.New("e"), target: nil, expected: false},
-		{err: nil, target: errors.New("e"), expected: false},
-		{err: errors.New("abc"), target: errors.New("def"), expected: false},
-		{err: errors.New("abc"), target: errors.New("bc"), expected: true},
-		{err: errors.New("read /proc/2054/stat: no such process"), target: syscall.ESRCH, expected: true},
-	}
-	for _, tc := range testCases {
-		actual := errorContains(tc.err, tc.target)
-		if actual != tc.expected {
-			negation := " not"
-			if tc.expected {
-				negation = ""
-			}
-			t.Fatalf("Expected \"%v\"%s to contain \"%v\", got %v", tc.err, negation, tc.target, actual)
-		}
-	}
-}