diff --git a/lib/XMonad/Internal/Shell.hs b/lib/XMonad/Internal/Shell.hs
index 88566e7..d59adc9 100644
--- a/lib/XMonad/Internal/Shell.hs
+++ b/lib/XMonad/Internal/Shell.hs
@@ -98,20 +98,19 @@ spawnPipe = liftIO . spawnPipeRW
 spawnPipeRW :: T.Text -> IO Handle
 spawnPipeRW x = do
   (rI, wI) <- createPipe
-  (rO, wO) <- createPipe
+  -- (rO, wO) <- createPipe
   -- I'm assuming the only place this matters is when xmonad is restarted (which
   -- calls exec); since these are the ends of the pipe that xmonad will be
   -- using, this ensures they will be closed when restarting
-  forM_ [wI, rO] $ \fd -> setFdOption fd CloseOnExec True
+  err <- dup stdError
+  forM_ [wI, err] $ \fd -> setFdOption fd CloseOnExec True
   h <- mkHandle wI
   void $ X.xfork $ do
     void $ dupTo rI stdInput
-    void $ dupTo wO stdOutput
-    void $ dupTo wO stdError
+    void $ dupTo err stdOutput
+    void $ dupTo err stdError
     executeFile "/bin/sh" False ["-c", T.unpack x] Nothing
-  void $ dupTo stdError rO
   closeFd rI
-  closeFd wO
   return h
   where
     mkHandle fd = do