diff --git a/spawn.c b/spawn.c
index 2a588b6b..b8397b75 100644
--- a/spawn.c
+++ b/spawn.c
@@ -330,14 +330,6 @@ spawn_pane(struct spawn_context *sc, char **cause)
 	cmd_log_argv(new_wp->argc, new_wp->argv, "%s", __func__);
 	environ_log(child, "%s: environment ", __func__);
 
-	/* If the command is empty, don't fork a child process. */
-	if (sc->flags & SPAWN_EMPTY) {
-		new_wp->flags |= PANE_EMPTY;
-		new_wp->base.mode &= ~MODE_CURSOR;
-		new_wp->base.mode |= MODE_CRLF;
-		goto complete;
-	}
-
 	/* Initialize the window size. */
 	memset(&ws, 0, sizeof ws);
 	ws.ws_col = screen_size_x(&new_wp->base);
@@ -347,6 +339,14 @@ spawn_pane(struct spawn_context *sc, char **cause)
 	sigfillset(&set);
 	sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, &set, &oldset);
 
+	/* If the command is empty, don't fork a child process. */
+	if (sc->flags & SPAWN_EMPTY) {
+		new_wp->flags |= PANE_EMPTY;
+		new_wp->base.mode &= ~MODE_CURSOR;
+		new_wp->base.mode |= MODE_CRLF;
+		goto complete;
+	}
+
 	/* Fork the new process. */
 	new_wp->pid = fdforkpty(ptm_fd, &new_wp->fd, new_wp->tty, NULL, &ws);
 	if (new_wp->pid == -1) {