diff --git a/kitty/boss.py b/kitty/boss.py
index f6aaf6c6b..cd8e155c8 100644
--- a/kitty/boss.py
+++ b/kitty/boss.py
@@ -22,8 +22,9 @@ from .cli_stub import CLIOptions
 from .conf.utils import BadLine, KeyAction, to_cmdline
 from .config import common_opts_as_dict, prepare_config_file_for_editing
 from .constants import (
-    appname, cache_dir, config_dir, is_macos, is_wayland, kitty_exe,
-    logo_png_file, supports_primary_selection, website_url
+    appname, cache_dir, clear_handled_signals, config_dir, handled_signals,
+    is_macos, is_wayland, kitty_exe, logo_png_file, supports_primary_selection,
+    website_url
 )
 from .fast_data_types import (
     CLOSE_BEING_CONFIRMED, GLFW_MOD_ALT, GLFW_MOD_CONTROL, GLFW_MOD_SHIFT,
@@ -733,6 +734,8 @@ class Boss:
         if not getattr(self, 'io_thread_started', False):
             self.child_monitor.start()
             self.io_thread_started = True
+            for signum in self.child_monitor.handled_signals():
+                handled_signals.add(signum)
             urls: List[str] = getattr(sys, 'cmdline_args_for_open', [])
             if urls:
                 delattr(sys, 'cmdline_args_for_open')
@@ -1737,7 +1740,7 @@ class Boss:
         if stdin:
             r, w = safe_pipe(False)
             try:
-                subprocess.Popen(cmd, env=env, stdin=r, cwd=cwd)
+                subprocess.Popen(cmd, env=env, stdin=r, cwd=cwd, preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
             except Exception:
                 os.close(w)
             else:
@@ -1745,7 +1748,7 @@ class Boss:
             finally:
                 os.close(r)
         else:
-            subprocess.Popen(cmd, env=env, cwd=cwd)
+            subprocess.Popen(cmd, env=env, cwd=cwd, preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
 
     def pipe(self, source: str, dest: str, exe: str, *args: str) -> Optional[Window]:
         cmd = [exe] + list(args)
@@ -1965,8 +1968,8 @@ class Boss:
             map f5 load_config_file /path/to/some/kitty.conf
         ''')
     def load_config_file(self, *paths: str, apply_overrides: bool = True) -> None:
-        from .config import load_config
         from .cli import default_config_paths
+        from .config import load_config
         old_opts = get_options()
         prev_paths = old_opts.config_paths or default_config_paths(self.args.config)
         paths = paths or prev_paths
diff --git a/kitty/child-monitor.c b/kitty/child-monitor.c
index 56bf1c3b2..d9faef67e 100644
--- a/kitty/child-monitor.c
+++ b/kitty/child-monitor.c
@@ -177,6 +177,17 @@ dealloc(ChildMonitor* self) {
     Py_TYPE(self)->tp_free((PyObject*)self);
 }
 
+static PyObject*
+handled_signals(ChildMonitor *self, PyObject *args UNUSED) {
+    PyObject *ans = PyTuple_New(self->io_loop_data.num_handled_signals);
+    if (ans) {
+        for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < PyTuple_GET_SIZE(ans); i++) {
+            PyTuple_SET_ITEM(ans, i, PyLong_FromLong((long)self->io_loop_data.handled_signals[i]));
+        }
+    }
+    return ans;
+}
+
 static void
 wakeup_io_loop(ChildMonitor *self, bool in_signal_handler) {
     wakeup_loop(&self->io_loop_data, in_signal_handler, "io_loop");
@@ -1706,6 +1717,7 @@ static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
     METHOD(main_loop, METH_NOARGS)
     METHOD(mark_for_close, METH_VARARGS)
     METHOD(resize_pty, METH_VARARGS)
+    METHODB(handled_signals, METH_NOARGS),
     {"set_iutf8_winid", (PyCFunction)pyset_iutf8, METH_VARARGS, ""},
     {NULL}  /* Sentinel */
 };
diff --git a/kitty/child.c b/kitty/child.c
index 7d1c6e4a1..d1b760216 100644
--- a/kitty/child.c
+++ b/kitty/child.c
@@ -79,14 +79,16 @@ wait_for_terminal_ready(int fd) {
 
 static PyObject*
 spawn(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
-    PyObject *argv_p, *env_p;
+    PyObject *argv_p, *env_p, *handled_signals_p;
     int master, slave, stdin_read_fd, stdin_write_fd, ready_read_fd, ready_write_fd;
     char *cwd, *exe;
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "ssO!O!iiiiii", &exe, &cwd, &PyTuple_Type, &argv_p, &PyTuple_Type, &env_p, &master, &slave, &stdin_read_fd, &stdin_write_fd, &ready_read_fd, &ready_write_fd)) return NULL;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "ssO!O!iiiiiiO!", &exe, &cwd, &PyTuple_Type, &argv_p, &PyTuple_Type, &env_p, &master, &slave, &stdin_read_fd, &stdin_write_fd, &ready_read_fd, &ready_write_fd, &PyTuple_Type, &handled_signals_p)) return NULL;
     char name[2048] = {0};
     if (ttyname_r(slave, name, sizeof(name) - 1) != 0) { PyErr_SetFromErrno(PyExc_OSError); return NULL; }
     char **argv = serialize_string_tuple(argv_p);
     char **env = serialize_string_tuple(env_p);
+    int handled_signals[16] = {0}, num_handled_signals = MIN((int)arraysz(handled_signals), PyTuple_GET_SIZE(handled_signals_p));
+    for (Py_ssize_t i = 0; i < num_handled_signals; i++) handled_signals[i] = PyLong_AsLong(PyTuple_GET_ITEM(handled_signals_p, i));
 
 #if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03070000
     PyOS_BeforeFork();
@@ -99,10 +101,10 @@ spawn(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
             PyOS_AfterFork_Child();
 #endif
             // See _Py_RestoreSignals in signalmodule.c for a list of signals python nukes
-            sigset_t signals = {0};
-            struct sigaction act = {.sa_handler=SIG_DFL};
-#define SA(which) { if (sigaction(which, &act, NULL) != 0) exit_on_err("sigaction() in child process failed"); }
-            SA(SIGINT); SA(SIGTERM); SA(SIGCHLD); SA(SIGPIPE); SA(SIGUSR1); SA(SIGUSR2);
+            const struct sigaction act = {.sa_handler=SIG_DFL};
+
+#define SA(which)  if (sigaction(which, &act, NULL) != 0) exit_on_err("sigaction() in child process failed");
+            for (int si = 0; si < num_handled_signals; si++) { SA(handled_signals[si]); }
 #ifdef SIGXFSZ
             SA(SIGXFSZ);
 #endif
@@ -110,6 +112,7 @@ spawn(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
             SA(SIGXFZ);
 #endif
 #undef SA
+            sigset_t signals; sigemptyset(&signals);
             if (sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, &signals, NULL) != 0) exit_on_err("sigprocmask() in child process failed");
             // Use only signal-safe functions (man 7 signal-safety)
             if (chdir(cwd) != 0) { if (chdir("/") != 0) {} };  // ignore failure to chdir to /
diff --git a/kitty/child.py b/kitty/child.py
index 143e79c41..0596fca16 100644
--- a/kitty/child.py
+++ b/kitty/child.py
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ from typing import (
 import kitty.fast_data_types as fast_data_types
 
 from .constants import (
-    is_freebsd, is_macos, kitty_base_dir, shell_path, terminfo_dir
+    handled_signals, is_freebsd, is_macos, kitty_base_dir, shell_path,
+    terminfo_dir
 )
 from .types import run_once
 from .utils import log_error, which
@@ -289,7 +290,9 @@ class Child:
             argv[0] = (f'-{exe.split("/")[-1]}')
         self.final_exe = which(exe) or exe
         self.final_argv0 = argv[0]
-        pid = fast_data_types.spawn(self.final_exe, self.cwd, tuple(argv), env, master, slave, stdin_read_fd, stdin_write_fd, ready_read_fd, ready_write_fd)
+        pid = fast_data_types.spawn(
+            self.final_exe, self.cwd, tuple(argv), env, master, slave,
+            stdin_read_fd, stdin_write_fd, ready_read_fd, ready_write_fd, tuple(handled_signals))
         os.close(slave)
         self.pid = pid
         self.child_fd = master
diff --git a/kitty/cli.py b/kitty/cli.py
index 7db6d9176..825e09b12 100644
--- a/kitty/cli.py
+++ b/kitty/cli.py
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ from typing import (
 
 from .cli_stub import CLIOptions
 from .conf.utils import resolve_config
-from .constants import appname, defconf, is_macos, str_version, website_url
+from .constants import (
+    appname, clear_handled_signals, defconf, is_macos, str_version, website_url
+)
 from .options.types import Options as KittyOpts
 from .typing import BadLineType, TypedDict
 
@@ -362,7 +364,7 @@ class PrintHelpForSeq:
         text = '\n'.join(blocks) + '\n\n' + version()
         if print_help_for_seq.allow_pager and sys.stdout.isatty():
             import subprocess
-            p = subprocess.Popen(['less', '-isRXF'], stdin=subprocess.PIPE)
+            p = subprocess.Popen(['less', '-isRXF'], stdin=subprocess.PIPE, preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
             try:
                 p.communicate(text.encode('utf-8'))
             except KeyboardInterrupt:
diff --git a/kitty/constants.py b/kitty/constants.py
index fd00b753d..268b4e999 100644
--- a/kitty/constants.py
+++ b/kitty/constants.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import os
 import pwd
 import sys
 from contextlib import suppress
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Iterable, NamedTuple, Optional, Set
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Iterable, NamedTuple, Optional, Set
 
 from .types import run_once
 
@@ -235,3 +235,16 @@ def website_url(doc_name: str = '') -> str:
         if doc_name:
             doc_name += '/'
     return f'https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/{doc_name}'
+
+
+handled_signals: Set[int] = set()
+
+
+def clear_handled_signals(*a: Any) -> None:
+    if not handled_signals:
+        return
+    import signal
+    if hasattr(signal, 'pthread_sigmask'):
+        signal.pthread_sigmask(signal.SIG_UNBLOCK, handled_signals)
+    for s in handled_signals:
+        signal.signal(s, signal.SIG_DFL)
diff --git a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
index ef7c9e126..6418a44fe 100644
--- a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
+++ b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
@@ -1200,6 +1200,9 @@ class ChildMonitor:
     def wakeup(self) -> None:
         pass
 
+    def handled_signals(self) -> Tuple[int, ...]:
+        pass
+
     def main_loop(self) -> None:
         pass
 
@@ -1279,7 +1282,8 @@ def spawn(
     stdin_read_fd: int,
     stdin_write_fd: int,
     ready_read_fd: int,
-    ready_write_fd: int
+    ready_write_fd: int,
+    handled_signals: Tuple[int, ...],
 ) -> int:
     pass
 
diff --git a/kitty/main.py b/kitty/main.py
index 3562edfdc..73e006a71 100644
--- a/kitty/main.py
+++ b/kitty/main.py
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ from .cli_stub import CLIOptions
 from .conf.utils import BadLine
 from .config import cached_values_for
 from .constants import (
-    appname, beam_cursor_data_file, config_dir, glfw_path, is_macos,
-    is_wayland, kitty_exe, logo_png_file, running_in_kitty, website_url
+    appname, beam_cursor_data_file, clear_handled_signals, config_dir,
+    glfw_path, is_macos, is_wayland, kitty_exe, logo_png_file,
+    running_in_kitty, website_url
 )
 from .fast_data_types import (
     GLFW_IBEAM_CURSOR, GLFW_MOD_ALT, GLFW_MOD_SHIFT, create_os_window,
@@ -249,7 +250,7 @@ def setup_profiling() -> Generator[None, None, None]:
         with open(cg, 'wb') as f:
             subprocess.call(['pprof', '--callgrind', exe, '/tmp/kitty-profile.log'], stdout=f)
         try:
-            subprocess.Popen(['kcachegrind', cg])
+            subprocess.Popen(['kcachegrind', cg], preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
         except FileNotFoundError:
             subprocess.call(['pprof', '--text', exe, '/tmp/kitty-profile.log'])
             print('To view the graphical call data, use: kcachegrind', cg)
diff --git a/kitty/update_check.py b/kitty/update_check.py
index e61d78c54..da5bfcbe6 100644
--- a/kitty/update_check.py
+++ b/kitty/update_check.py
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ from typing import Dict, NamedTuple, Optional, Tuple
 from urllib.request import urlopen
 
 from .config import atomic_save
-from .constants import Version, cache_dir, kitty_exe, version, website_url
+from .constants import (
+    Version, cache_dir, clear_handled_signals, kitty_exe, version, website_url
+)
 from .fast_data_types import add_timer, get_boss, monitor_pid
 from .notify import notify
 from .utils import log_error, open_url
@@ -115,7 +117,7 @@ def update_check() -> bool:
         p = subprocess.Popen([
             kitty_exe(), '+runpy',
             'from kitty.update_check import run_worker; run_worker()'
-        ], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+        ], stdout=subprocess.PIPE, preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
     except OSError as e:
         log_error(f'Failed to run kitty for update check, with error: {e}')
         return False
diff --git a/kitty/utils.py b/kitty/utils.py
index 3a6ebc3df..2cbb34568 100644
--- a/kitty/utils.py
+++ b/kitty/utils.py
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ from typing import (
 )
 
 from .constants import (
-    appname, config_dir, is_macos, is_wayland, read_kitty_resource,
-    runtime_dir, shell_path, ssh_control_master_template,
+    appname, clear_handled_signals, config_dir, is_macos, is_wayland,
+    read_kitty_resource, runtime_dir, shell_path, ssh_control_master_template,
     supports_primary_selection
 )
 from .fast_data_types import Color, open_tty
@@ -277,7 +277,9 @@ def open_cmd(cmd: Union[Iterable[str], List[str]], arg: Union[None, Iterable[str
             cmd.append(arg)
         else:
             cmd.extend(arg)
-    return subprocess.Popen(tuple(cmd), stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, cwd=cwd or None)
+    return subprocess.Popen(
+        tuple(cmd), stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, cwd=cwd or None,
+        preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
 
 
 def open_url(url: str, program: Union[str, List[str]] = 'default', cwd: Optional[str] = None) -> 'PopenType[bytes]':
@@ -797,7 +799,9 @@ def read_shell_environment(opts: Optional[Options] = None) -> Dict[str, str]:
         if '-i' not in shell and '--interactive' not in shell:
             shell += ['-i']
         try:
-            p = subprocess.Popen(shell + ['-c', 'env'], stdout=slave, stdin=slave, stderr=slave, start_new_session=True, close_fds=True)
+            p = subprocess.Popen(
+                shell + ['-c', 'env'], stdout=slave, stdin=slave, stderr=slave, start_new_session=True, close_fds=True,
+                preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
         except FileNotFoundError:
             log_error('Could not find shell to read environment')
             return ans
@@ -970,8 +974,8 @@ def cleanup_ssh_control_masters() -> None:
     except OSError:
         return
     workers = tuple(subprocess.Popen([
-        'ssh', '-o', f'ControlPath={x}', '-O', 'exit', 'kitty-unused-host-name'], stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL)
-                    for x in files)
+        'ssh', '-o', f'ControlPath={x}', '-O', 'exit', 'kitty-unused-host-name'], stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals) for x in files)
     for w in workers:
         w.wait()
     for x in files:
diff --git a/kitty/window.py b/kitty/window.py
index dc21181dc..228fd0e28 100644
--- a/kitty/window.py
+++ b/kitty/window.py
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ from typing import (
 from .child import ProcessDesc
 from .cli_stub import CLIOptions
 from .config import build_ansi_color_table
-from .constants import appname, config_dir, is_macos, wakeup
+from .constants import (
+    appname, clear_handled_signals, config_dir, is_macos, wakeup
+)
 from .fast_data_types import (
     BGIMAGE_PROGRAM, BLIT_PROGRAM, CELL_BG_PROGRAM, CELL_FG_PROGRAM,
     CELL_PROGRAM, CELL_SPECIAL_PROGRAM, CURSOR_BEAM, CURSOR_BLOCK,
@@ -831,9 +833,10 @@ class Window:
             set_clipboard_string(url)
 
     def handle_remote_file(self, netloc: str, remote_path: str) -> None:
-        from .utils import SSHConnectionData
-        from kittens.ssh.main import get_connection_data
         from kittens.remote_file.main import is_ssh_kitten_sentinel
+        from kittens.ssh.main import get_connection_data
+
+        from .utils import SSHConnectionData
         args = self.ssh_kitten_cmdline()
         conn_data: Union[None, List[str], SSHConnectionData] = None
         if args:
@@ -903,7 +906,7 @@ class Window:
             import subprocess
             env = self.child.foreground_environ
             env['KITTY_CHILD_CMDLINE'] = ' '.join(map(shlex.quote, self.child.cmdline))
-            subprocess.Popen(cb, env=env, cwd=self.child.foreground_cwd)
+            subprocess.Popen(cb, env=env, cwd=self.child.foreground_cwd, preexec_fn=clear_handled_signals)
         if not self.is_active:
             changed = not self.needs_attention
             self.needs_attention = True