diff --git a/src/node.cc b/src/node.cc
index c7dac8e2e8..5726578fdb 100644
--- a/src/node.cc
+++ b/src/node.cc
@@ -1160,6 +1160,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
   // so your next reading stop should be node::Load()!
   node::Load(argc, argv);
 
+  node::Stdio::Flush();
+
 #ifndef NDEBUG
   // Clean up.
   context.Dispose();
diff --git a/src/node_stdio.cc b/src/node_stdio.cc
index 2b1da6c055..adcaff2557 100644
--- a/src/node_stdio.cc
+++ b/src/node_stdio.cc
@@ -197,6 +197,19 @@ Close (const Arguments& args)
   return Undefined();
 }
 
+void Stdio::Flush() {
+  if (stdout_fd >= 0) {
+    close(stdout_fd);
+    stdout_fd = -1;
+  }
+
+  if (stdout_coupling) {
+    coupling_join(stdout_coupling);
+    coupling_destroy(stdout_coupling);
+    stdout_coupling = NULL;
+  }
+}
+
 void
 Stdio::Initialize (v8::Handle<v8::Object> target)
 {
diff --git a/src/node_stdio.h b/src/node_stdio.h
index 11dd5aeddc..60fa2912fd 100644
--- a/src/node_stdio.h
+++ b/src/node_stdio.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ namespace node {
 class Stdio  {
 public:
   static void Initialize (v8::Handle<v8::Object> target);
+  static void Flush ();
 };
 
 } // namespace node
diff --git a/test/mjsunit/fixtures/print-chars.js b/test/mjsunit/fixtures/print-chars.js
index c4202b6036..ba539ffb76 100644
--- a/test/mjsunit/fixtures/print-chars.js
+++ b/test/mjsunit/fixtures/print-chars.js
@@ -8,5 +8,3 @@ for (var i = 0; i < n-1; i++) {
 }
 
 puts(s); // \n is the nth char.
-
-process.exit(0);
diff --git a/test/mjsunit/test-stdout-flush.js b/test/mjsunit/test-stdout-flush.js
index 52d9633641..58c945bea9 100644
--- a/test/mjsunit/test-stdout-flush.js
+++ b/test/mjsunit/test-stdout-flush.js
@@ -2,43 +2,27 @@ process.mixin(require("./common"));
 
 var sub = path.join(fixturesDir, 'print-chars.js');
 
-completedTests = 0;
+n = 100000;
 
-function test (n, cb) {
-  var child = process.createChildProcess(process.argv[0], [sub, n]);
+var child = process.createChildProcess(process.argv[0], [sub, n]);
 
-  var count = 0;
+var count = 0;
 
-  child.addListener("error", function (data){
-    if (data) {
-      puts("parent stderr: " + data);
-      assert.ok(false);
-    }
-  });
-
-  child.addListener("output", function (data){
-    if (data) {
-      count += data.length;
-    }
-  });
-
-  child.addListener("exit", function (data) {
-    assert.equal(n, count);
-    puts(n + " okay");
-    completedTests++;
-    if (cb) cb();
-  });
-}
-
-
-
-test(5000, function () {
-  test(50000, function () {
-    test(500000);
-  });
+child.addListener("error", function (data){
+  if (data) {
+    puts("parent stderr: " + data);
+    assert.ok(false);
+  }
 });
 
+child.addListener("output", function (data){
+  if (data) {
+    count += data.length;
+    puts(count);
+  }
+});
 
-process.addListener('exit', function () {
-  assert.equal(3, completedTests);
+child.addListener("exit", function (data) {
+  assert.equal(n, count);
+  puts("okay");
 });