diff --git a/lib/workers/workerpool.js b/lib/workers/workerpool.js
index 092f9c7a..266b94e6 100644
--- a/lib/workers/workerpool.js
+++ b/lib/workers/workerpool.js
@@ -537,7 +537,11 @@ Worker.prototype._initChildProcess = function _initChildProcess() {
   var options = { stdio: 'pipe', env: env };
 
   this.child = cp.spawn(file, argv, options);
+
   this.child.unref();
+  this.child.stdin.unref();
+  this.child.stdout.unref();
+  this.child.stderr.unref();
 
   this.child.on('error', function(err) {
     self.emit('error', err);