diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.c b/src/common/remoteio.c
--- a/src/common/remoteio.c
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <sys/wait.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <malloc.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
 
 int remoteio_open(const char *spec, struct remoteio **rem)
 {
@@ -59,6 +60,10 @@ int remoteio_open(const char *spec, stru
     }
   if(child)
     {
+      /* close sides of pipe we won't use */
+      close(pipe_write[0]);
+      close(pipe_read[1]);
+      
       /* setup remoteio struct */
       (*rem) = malloc(sizeof(struct remoteio));
       if(!(*rem))
@@ -82,6 +87,11 @@ int remoteio_open(const char *spec, stru
   /* child */
   else
     {
+      /* close unused pipes */
+      close(pipe_write[1]);
+      close(pipe_read[0]);
+
+      /* reset stdin, stdout, and stderr to the appropriate streams. OK, not stderr :-) */
       
 
       return 1; /* this line should never be reached because we exec*/