diff --git a/lib/child_process.js b/lib/child_process.js
index 4a9922e53e..a4a5d2b3a9 100644
--- a/lib/child_process.js
+++ b/lib/child_process.js
@@ -884,9 +884,9 @@ ChildProcess.prototype.spawn = function(options) {
     if (stdio.handle) {
       // when i === 0 - we're dealing with stdin
       // (which is the only one writable pipe)
-      stdio.socket = createSocket(stdio.handle, i > 0);
+      stdio.socket = createSocket(self.pid !== 0 ? stdio.handle : null, i > 0);
 
-      if (i > 0) {
+      if (i > 0 && self.pid !== 0) {
         self._closesNeeded++;
         stdio.socket.on('close', function() {
           maybeClose(self);