diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index 23cf6ec6..15c29349 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $Id: client.c,v 1.45 2009-03-27 17:04:04 nicm Exp $ */
+/* $Id: client.c,v 1.46 2009-03-31 22:20:42 nicm Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2007 Nicholas Marriott <nicm@users.sourceforge.net>
@@ -85,9 +85,9 @@ client_init(char *path, struct client_ctx *cctx, int start_server, int flags)
 
 server_started:
 	if ((mode = fcntl(cctx->srv_fd, F_GETFL)) == -1)
-		fatal("fcntl");
+		fatal("fcntl failed");
 	if (fcntl(cctx->srv_fd, F_SETFL, mode|O_NONBLOCK) == -1)
-		fatal("fcntl");
+		fatal("fcntl failed");
 	cctx->srv_in = buffer_create(BUFSIZ);
 	cctx->srv_out = buffer_create(BUFSIZ);
 
diff --git a/server.c b/server.c
index 3795fce1..7d5eb34f 100644
--- a/server.c
+++ b/server.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $Id: server.c,v 1.131 2009-03-28 15:49:05 nicm Exp $ */
+/* $Id: server.c,v 1.132 2009-03-31 22:20:42 nicm Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2007 Nicholas Marriott <nicm@users.sourceforge.net>
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ server_create_client(int fd)
 		fatal("fcntl failed");
 	if (fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, mode|O_NONBLOCK) == -1)
 		fatal("fcntl failed");
+	if (fcntl(fd, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC) == -1)
+		fatal("fcntl failed");
 
 	c = xcalloc(1, sizeof *c);
 	c->fd = fd;
diff --git a/tty.c b/tty.c
index 000ac55e..09db0516 100644
--- a/tty.c
+++ b/tty.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $Id: tty.c,v 1.88 2009-03-31 18:39:45 nicm Exp $ */
+/* $Id: tty.c,v 1.89 2009-03-31 22:20:42 nicm Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2007 Nicholas Marriott <nicm@users.sourceforge.net>
@@ -98,9 +98,11 @@ tty_open(struct tty *tty, char **cause)
 	}
 
 	if ((mode = fcntl(tty->fd, F_GETFL)) == -1)
-		fatal("fcntl");
+		fatal("fcntl failed");
 	if (fcntl(tty->fd, F_SETFL, mode|O_NONBLOCK) == -1)
-		fatal("fcntl");
+		fatal("fcntl failedo");
+	if (fcntl(tty->fd, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC) == -1)
+		fatal("fcntl failed");
 
 	if (debug_level > 3)
 		tty->log_fd = open("tmux.out", O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC, 0644);