diff --git a/src/termio/Exec.zig b/src/termio/Exec.zig
index 08808e3f8..89ecf726c 100644
--- a/src/termio/Exec.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Exec.zig
@@ -139,6 +139,12 @@ pub fn threadEnter(self: *Exec, thread: *termio.Thread) !ThreadData {
         break :pid command.pid orelse return error.ProcessNoPid;
     };
 
+    // Create our pipe that we'll use to kill our read thread.
+    // pipe[0] is the read end, pipe[1] is the write end.
+    const pipe = try std.os.pipe();
+    errdefer std.os.close(pipe[0]);
+    errdefer std.os.close(pipe[1]);
+
     // Setup our data that is used for callbacks
     var ev_data_ptr = try alloc.create(EventData);
     errdefer alloc.destroy(ev_data_ptr);
@@ -194,7 +200,7 @@ pub fn threadEnter(self: *Exec, thread: *termio.Thread) !ThreadData {
     const read_thread = try std.Thread.spawn(
         .{},
         ReadThread.threadMain,
-        .{ master_fd, ev_data_ptr },
+        .{ master_fd, ev_data_ptr, pipe[0] },
     );
     read_thread.setName("io-reader") catch {};
 
@@ -203,6 +209,7 @@ pub fn threadEnter(self: *Exec, thread: *termio.Thread) !ThreadData {
         .alloc = alloc,
         .ev = ev_data_ptr,
         .read_thread = read_thread,
+        .read_thread_pipe = pipe[1],
     };
 }
 
@@ -210,12 +217,15 @@ pub fn threadExit(self: *Exec, data: ThreadData) void {
     // Clear out our data since we're not active anymore.
     self.data = null;
 
+    // Quit our read thread first so that we aren't simultaneously
+    // performing a read/close on the pty fd.
+    _ = std.os.write(data.read_thread_pipe, "x") catch |err|
+        log.warn("error writing to read thread quit pipe err={}", .{err});
+    data.read_thread.join();
+
     // Stop our subprocess
     if (data.ev.process_exited) self.subprocess.externalExit();
     self.subprocess.stop();
-
-    // Wait for our reader thread to end
-    data.read_thread.join();
 }
 
 /// Update the configuration.
@@ -338,8 +348,10 @@ const ThreadData = struct {
 
     /// Our read thread
     read_thread: std.Thread,
+    read_thread_pipe: std.os.fd_t,
 
     pub fn deinit(self: *ThreadData) void {
+        std.os.close(self.read_thread_pipe);
         self.ev.deinit(self.alloc);
         self.alloc.destroy(self.ev);
         self.* = undefined;
@@ -934,11 +946,39 @@ const Subprocess = struct {
 /// This is also empirically fast compared to putting the read into
 /// an async mechanism like io_uring/epoll because the reads are generally
 /// small.
+///
+/// We use a basic poll syscall here because we are only monitoring two
+/// fds and this is still much faster and lower overhead than any async
+/// mechanism.
 const ReadThread = struct {
     /// The main entrypoint for the thread.
-    fn threadMain(fd: std.os.fd_t, ev: *EventData) void {
+    fn threadMain(fd: std.os.fd_t, ev: *EventData, quit: std.os.fd_t) void {
+        // Always close our end of the pipe when we exit.
+        defer std.os.close(quit);
+
+        // Build up the list of fds we're going to poll. We are looking
+        // for data on the pty and our quit notification.
+        var pollfds: [2]std.os.pollfd = .{
+            .{ .fd = fd, .events = std.os.POLL.IN, .revents = undefined },
+            .{ .fd = quit, .events = std.os.POLL.IN, .revents = undefined },
+        };
+
         var buf: [1024]u8 = undefined;
         while (true) {
+            // Wait for data.
+            _ = std.os.poll(&pollfds, 0) catch |err| {
+                log.warn("poll failed on read thread, exiting early err={}", .{err});
+                return;
+            };
+
+            // If our quit fd is set, we're done.
+            if (pollfds[1].revents & std.os.POLL.IN != 0) {
+                log.info("read thread got quit signal", .{});
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // Ensure our pty has data.
+            if (pollfds[0].revents & std.os.POLL.IN == 0) continue;
             const n = std.os.read(fd, &buf) catch |err| {
                 switch (err) {
                     // This means our pty is closed. We're probably