diff --git a/src/unix/internal.h b/src/unix/internal.h
index 16be13b9..2dcc8b32 100644
--- a/src/unix/internal.h
+++ b/src/unix/internal.h
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ typedef struct uv__stream_queued_fds_s uv__stream_queued_fds_t;
 
 /* loop flags */
 enum {
-  UV_LOOP_BLOCK_SIGPROF = 1
+  UV_LOOP_BLOCK_SIGPROF = 0x1,
+  UV_LOOP_REAP_CHILDREN = 0x2
 };
 
 /* flags of excluding ifaddr */
diff --git a/src/unix/kqueue.c b/src/unix/kqueue.c
index efbc561d..857eb1d5 100644
--- a/src/unix/kqueue.c
+++ b/src/unix/kqueue.c
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ void uv__io_poll(uv_loop_t* loop, int timeout) {
     for (i = 0; i < nfds; i++) {
       ev = events + i;
       if (ev->filter == EVFILT_PROC) {
-        uv__wait_children(loop);
+        loop->flags |= UV_LOOP_REAP_CHILDREN;
         nevents++;
         continue;
       }
@@ -382,6 +382,11 @@ void uv__io_poll(uv_loop_t* loop, int timeout) {
       nevents++;
     }
 
+    if (loop->flags & UV_LOOP_REAP_CHILDREN) {
+      loop->flags &= ~UV_LOOP_REAP_CHILDREN;
+      uv__wait_children(loop);
+    }
+
     if (reset_timeout != 0) {
       timeout = user_timeout;
       reset_timeout = 0;
diff --git a/src/unix/process.c b/src/unix/process.c
index c1f6bd4b..2920b942 100644
--- a/src/unix/process.c
+++ b/src/unix/process.c
@@ -507,8 +507,12 @@ int uv_spawn(uv_loop_t* loop,
 #if defined(__APPLE__) || defined(__DragonFly__) || defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__OpenBSD__)
     struct kevent event;
     EV_SET(&event, pid, EVFILT_PROC, EV_ADD | EV_ONESHOT, NOTE_EXIT, 0, 0);
-    if (kevent(loop->backend_fd, &event, 1, NULL, 0, NULL))
-      abort();
+    if (kevent(loop->backend_fd, &event, 1, NULL, 0, NULL)) {
+      if (errno != ESRCH)
+        abort();
+      /* Process already exited. Call waitpid on the next loop iteration. */
+      loop->flags |= UV_LOOP_REAP_CHILDREN;
+    }
 #endif
 
     QUEUE_INSERT_TAIL(&loop->process_handles, &process->queue);