diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index a42a9634..0642bdc4 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -366,7 +366,6 @@ client_main(struct event_base *base, int argc, char **argv, int flags)
 	if (client_exittype == MSG_EXEC) {
 		if (client_flags & CLIENT_CONTROLCONTROL)
 			tcsetattr(STDOUT_FILENO, TCSAFLUSH, &saved_tio);
-		proc_clear_signals(client_proc);
 		client_exec(client_execshell, client_execcmd);
 	}
 
@@ -482,6 +481,8 @@ client_exec(const char *shell, const char *shellcmd)
 		xasprintf(&argv0, "%s", name);
 	setenv("SHELL", shell, 1);
 
+	proc_clear_signals(client_proc, 1);
+
 	setblocking(STDIN_FILENO, 1);
 	setblocking(STDOUT_FILENO, 1);
 	setblocking(STDERR_FILENO, 1);
@@ -629,7 +630,6 @@ client_dispatch_wait(struct imsg *imsg)
 		if (datalen == 0 || data[datalen - 1] != '\0')
 			fatalx("bad MSG_SHELL string");
 
-		proc_clear_signals(client_proc);
 		client_exec(data, shell_command);
 		/* NOTREACHED */
 	case MSG_DETACH:
diff --git a/cmd-pipe-pane.c b/cmd-pipe-pane.c
index 5df2d11f..9c2290d6 100644
--- a/cmd-pipe-pane.c
+++ b/cmd-pipe-pane.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ cmd_pipe_pane_exec(struct cmd *self, struct cmdq_item *item)
 		return (CMD_RETURN_ERROR);
 	case 0:
 		/* Child process. */
-		proc_clear_signals(server_proc);
+		proc_clear_signals(server_proc, 1);
 		sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 		close(pipe_fd[0]);
 
diff --git a/job.c b/job.c
index dfe3d691..d8f7a7d8 100644
--- a/job.c
+++ b/job.c
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ job_run(const char *cmd, struct session *s, const char *cwd,
 		close(out[1]);
 		return (NULL);
 	case 0:
-		proc_clear_signals(server_proc);
+		proc_clear_signals(server_proc, 1);
 		sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 
 		if (cwd == NULL || chdir(cwd) != 0) {
diff --git a/proc.c b/proc.c
index d3e7dec1..b10d4850 100644
--- a/proc.c
+++ b/proc.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ proc_set_signals(struct tmuxproc *tp, void (*signalcb)(int))
 }
 
 void
-proc_clear_signals(struct tmuxproc *tp)
+proc_clear_signals(struct tmuxproc *tp, int defaults)
 {
 	struct sigaction	sa;
 
@@ -260,6 +260,16 @@ proc_clear_signals(struct tmuxproc *tp)
 	signal_del(&tp->ev_sigusr1);
 	signal_del(&tp->ev_sigusr2);
 	signal_del(&tp->ev_sigwinch);
+
+	if (defaults) {
+		sigaction(SIGHUP, &sa, NULL);
+		sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa, NULL);
+		sigaction(SIGCONT, &sa, NULL);
+		sigaction(SIGTERM, &sa, NULL);
+		sigaction(SIGUSR1, &sa, NULL);
+		sigaction(SIGUSR2, &sa, NULL);
+		sigaction(SIGWINCH, &sa, NULL);
+	}
 }
 
 struct tmuxpeer *
diff --git a/server.c b/server.c
index 1aae5e14..dad28aa5 100644
--- a/server.c
+++ b/server.c
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ server_start(struct tmuxproc *client, struct event_base *base, int lockfd,
 	close(pair[0]);
 	if (daemon(1, 0) != 0)
 		fatal("daemon failed");
-	proc_clear_signals(client);
+	proc_clear_signals(client, 0);
 	if (event_reinit(base) != 0)
 		fatalx("event_reinit failed");
 	server_proc = proc_start("server");
diff --git a/tmux.h b/tmux.h
index 291d2bd8..c18958d9 100644
--- a/tmux.h
+++ b/tmux.h
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ struct tmuxproc *proc_start(const char *);
 void	proc_loop(struct tmuxproc *, int (*)(void));
 void	proc_exit(struct tmuxproc *);
 void	proc_set_signals(struct tmuxproc *, void(*)(int));
-void	proc_clear_signals(struct tmuxproc *);
+void	proc_clear_signals(struct tmuxproc *, int);
 struct tmuxpeer *proc_add_peer(struct tmuxproc *, int,
 	    void (*)(struct imsg *, void *), void *);
 void	proc_remove_peer(struct tmuxpeer *);
diff --git a/window.c b/window.c
index 9fcf77a2..505be96d 100644
--- a/window.c
+++ b/window.c
@@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ window_pane_spawn(struct window_pane *wp, int argc, char **argv,
 		sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 		return (-1);
 	case 0:
-		proc_clear_signals(server_proc);
+		proc_clear_signals(server_proc, 1);
 		sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 
 		if (chdir(wp->cwd) != 0) {