diff --git a/src/unix/process.c b/src/unix/process.c
index f2fe3052..af44bc5d 100644
--- a/src/unix/process.c
+++ b/src/unix/process.c
@@ -282,6 +282,7 @@ static void uv__process_child_init(const uv_process_options_t* options,
   int close_fd;
   int use_fd;
   int fd;
+  int n;
 
   if (options->flags & UV_PROCESS_DETACHED)
     setsid();
@@ -376,6 +377,22 @@ static void uv__process_child_init(const uv_process_options_t* options,
     environ = options->env;
   }
 
+  /* Reset signal disposition.  Use a hard-coded limit because NSIG
+   * is not fixed on Linux: it's either 32, 34 or 64, depending on
+   * whether RT signals are enabled.  We are not allowed to touch
+   * RT signal handlers, glibc uses them internally.
+   */
+  for (n = 1; n < 32; n += 1) {
+    if (n == SIGKILL || n == SIGSTOP)
+      continue;  /* Can't be changed. */
+
+    if (SIG_ERR != signal(n, SIG_DFL))
+      continue;
+
+    uv__write_int(error_fd, -errno);
+    _exit(127);
+  }
+
   execvp(options->file, options->args);
   uv__write_int(error_fd, -errno);
   _exit(127);
diff --git a/test/test-spawn.c b/test/test-spawn.c
index 52fc7f6c..1ec6bc13 100644
--- a/test/test-spawn.c
+++ b/test/test-spawn.c
@@ -929,9 +929,18 @@ TEST_IMPL(kill) {
 
   init_process_options("spawn_helper4", kill_cb);
 
+  /* Verify that uv_spawn() resets the signal disposition. */
+#ifndef _WIN32
+  ASSERT(SIG_ERR != signal(SIGTERM, SIG_IGN));
+#endif
+
   r = uv_spawn(uv_default_loop(), &process, &options);
   ASSERT(r == 0);
 
+#ifndef _WIN32
+  ASSERT(SIG_ERR != signal(SIGTERM, SIG_DFL));
+#endif
+
   /* Sending signum == 0 should check if the
    * child process is still alive, not kill it.
    */