diff --git a/lib/child_process.js b/lib/child_process.js
index 215da0bebd..9b31586c44 100644
--- a/lib/child_process.js
+++ b/lib/child_process.js
@@ -300,6 +300,9 @@ function setupChannel(target, channel) {
     } else {
       this.buffering = false;
       target.disconnect();
+      channel.onread = nop;
+      channel.close();
+      maybeClose(target);
     }
   };
 
@@ -745,7 +748,7 @@ ChildProcess.prototype.spawn = function(options) {
       ipc = createPipe(true);
       ipcFd = i;
 
-      acc.push({ type: 'pipe', handle: ipc });
+      acc.push({ type: 'pipe', handle: ipc, ipc: true });
     } else if (typeof stdio === 'number' || typeof stdio.fd === 'number') {
       acc.push({ type: 'fd', fd: stdio.fd || stdio });
     } else if (getHandleWrapType(stdio) || getHandleWrapType(stdio.handle) ||
@@ -796,6 +799,11 @@ ChildProcess.prototype.spawn = function(options) {
   stdio.forEach(function(stdio, i) {
     if (stdio.type === 'ignore') return;
 
+    if (stdio.ipc) {
+      self._closesNeeded++;
+      return;
+    }
+
     if (stdio.handle) {
       // when i === 0 - we're dealing with stdin
       // (which is the only one writable pipe)
diff --git a/test/fixtures/child-process-message-and-exit.js b/test/fixtures/child-process-message-and-exit.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..56e83ce801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/child-process-message-and-exit.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+
+process.send('hello');
+process.exit(0);
diff --git a/test/simple/test-child-process-fork-close.js b/test/simple/test-child-process-fork-close.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..342cffec3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/simple/test-child-process-fork-close.js
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright Joyent, Inc. and other Node contributors.
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+// copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+// "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+// without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+// distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
+// persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
+// following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+// in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+// OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
+// NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
+// DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
+// USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+var assert = require('assert'),
+    common = require('../common'),
+    fork = require('child_process').fork,
+    fork = require('child_process').fork;
+
+var cp = fork(common.fixturesDir + '/child-process-message-and-exit.js');
+
+var gotMessage = false,
+    gotExit = false,
+    gotClose = false;
+
+cp.on('message', function(message) {
+  assert(!gotMessage);
+  assert(!gotClose);
+  assert.strictEqual(message, 'hello');
+  gotMessage = true;
+});
+
+cp.on('exit', function() {
+  assert(!gotExit);
+  assert(!gotClose);
+  gotExit = true;
+});
+
+cp.on('close', function() {
+  assert(gotMessage);
+  assert(gotExit);
+  assert(!gotClose);
+  gotClose = true;
+});
+
+process.on('exit', function() {
+  assert(gotMessage);
+  assert(gotExit);
+  assert(gotClose);
+});