diff --git a/test/fixtures/sigint.js b/test/fixtures/sigint.js
index fe984229..64192f14 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/sigint.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/sigint.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 process.on('SIGINT', function() {
-  // do nothing here
+  if (process.argv.length === 3 && process.argv[2] === '--dont-exit') return;
+  process.exit();
 });
 // timer, to keep process running
 setInterval(function() {
diff --git a/test/misc/sigint.test.js b/test/misc/sigint.test.js
index b0728351..6fa8ca74 100644
--- a/test/misc/sigint.test.js
+++ b/test/misc/sigint.test.js
@@ -6,42 +6,51 @@ var utils = require('../utils'),
     appjs = path.relative(process.cwd(), path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'fixtures', 'sigint.js')),
     match = utils.match,
     cleanup = utils.cleanup,
-    run = utils.run;
+    run = utils.run,
+    isRunning = utils.isRunning;
 
-describe('terminal signals', function () {
-  it('should kill child with SIGINT (after ~10 seconds)', function (done) {
-    var childPID = null;
+function runAndKill(done, cmdline, exitcb)
+{
+  var childPID = null;
 
-    var p = run(appjs, {
-      output: function (data) {
-        if (match(data, 'pid: ')) {
-          data.replace(/pid: (\d+)/, function (m) {
-            childPID = m;
-          });
-        }
-      },
-      error: function (data) {
-        assert(false, 'nodemon failed with ' + data);
-        cleanup(p, done);
+  var p = run(cmdline, {
+    output: function (data) {
+      if (match(data, 'pid: ')) {
+        data.replace(/pid: (\d+)/, function (_, p1) {
+          childPID = p1;
+        });
       }
-    });
+    },
+    error: function (data) {
+      assert(false, 'nodemon failed with ' + data);
+      cleanup(p, done);
+    }
+  });
 
-    p.on('message', function (event) {
-      if (event.type === 'start') {
-        setTimeout(function () {
-          p.kill('SIGINT');
-        }, 1000);
-      }
-    }).on('exit', function () {
-      // check if the child process is still running
-      try {
-        process.kill(childPID, 0);
-        assert(false, 'child is still running at ' + childPID);
-      } catch (e) {
-        assert(true, 'child process was not running');
-      }
+  p.on('message', function (event) {
+    if (event.type === 'start') {
+      setTimeout(function () {
+       p.kill('SIGINT');
+      }, 1000);
+    }
+  }).on('exit', function () {
+    exitcb(childPID);
+  });
+}
+
+describe('terminal signals', function () {
+  it('should kill child with SIGINT', function (done) {
+    runAndKill(done, appjs, function (childPID) {
+      assert(!isRunning(childPID), 'child is still running at ' + childPID);
       done();
     });
   });
 
+  it('should terminate nodemon (after ~10 seconds)', function (done) {
+    runAndKill(done, appjs + ' --dont-exit', function (childPID) {
+      // make sure we don't keep abandoned child
+      process.kill(childPID, 'SIGTERM');
+      done();
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/utils.js b/test/utils.js
index 4a96c92a..f579a202 100644
--- a/test/utils.js
+++ b/test/utils.js
@@ -121,6 +121,16 @@ function getTriggerCount(msg) {
   return changes.pop();
 }
 
+function isRunning(pid) {
+  try {
+    process.kill(pid, 0)
+    return true
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (error.code && error.code === 'ESRCH') return false
+    throw error
+  }
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   getTriggerCount: getTriggerCount,
   Plan: Plan,
@@ -132,4 +142,5 @@ module.exports = {
   appcoffee: appcoffee,
   monitorForChange: monitorForChange,
   port: port,
+  isRunning: isRunning
 };