diff --git a/src/exec.cpp b/src/exec.cpp
index bd66ff308..dc6ce6089 100644
--- a/src/exec.cpp
+++ b/src/exec.cpp
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ void internal_exec(env_stack_t &vars, job_t *j, const io_chain_t &all_ios) {
     // commands in the pipeline will apply to exec. However, using exec in a pipeline doesn't
     // really make sense, so I'm not trying to fix it here.
     auto redirs = dup2_list_t::resolve_chain(all_ios);
-    if (redirs && !child_setup_process(nullptr, false, *redirs)) {
+    if (redirs && !child_setup_process(INVALID_PID, false, *redirs)) {
         // Decrement SHLVL as we're removing ourselves from the shell "stack".
         auto shlvl_var = vars.get(L"SHLVL", ENV_GLOBAL | ENV_EXPORT);
         wcstring shlvl_str = L"0";
@@ -443,9 +443,11 @@ static bool fork_child_for_process(const std::shared_ptr<job_t> &job, process_t
     if (pid == 0) {
         // This is the child process. Setup redirections, print correct output to
         // stdout and stderr, and then exit.
+        maybe_t<pid_t> new_termowner{};
         p->pid = getpid();
         child_set_group(job.get(), p);
-        child_setup_process(job.get(), true, dup2s);
+        child_setup_process(job->wants_terminal() && job->is_foreground() ? job->pgid : INVALID_PID,
+                            true, dup2s);
         child_action();
         DIE("Child process returned control to fork_child lambda!");
     }
diff --git a/src/postfork.cpp b/src/postfork.cpp
index 566c1ed63..0d85275bc 100644
--- a/src/postfork.cpp
+++ b/src/postfork.cpp
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ bool set_child_group(job_t *j, pid_t child_pid) {
     return true;
 }
 
-int child_setup_process(const job_t *job, bool is_forked, const dup2_list_t &dup2s) {
+int child_setup_process(pid_t new_termowner, bool is_forked, const dup2_list_t &dup2s) {
     // Note we are called in a forked child.
     for (const auto &act : dup2s.get_actions()) {
         int err = act.target < 0 ? close(act.src) : dup2(act.src, act.target);
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ int child_setup_process(const job_t *job, bool is_forked, const dup2_list_t &dup
             return err;
         }
     }
-    if (job != nullptr && job->wants_terminal() && job->is_foreground()) {
+    if (new_termowner != INVALID_PID) {
         // Assign the terminal within the child to avoid the well-known race between tcsetgrp() in
         // the parent and the child executing. We are not interested in error handling here, except
         // we try to avoid this for non-terminals; in particular pipelines often make non-terminal
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ int child_setup_process(const job_t *job, bool is_forked, const dup2_list_t &dup
             // Ensure this doesn't send us to the background (see #5963)
             signal(SIGTTIN, SIG_IGN);
             signal(SIGTTOU, SIG_IGN);
-            (void)tcsetpgrp(STDIN_FILENO, job->pgid);
+            (void)tcsetpgrp(STDIN_FILENO, new_termowner);
         }
     }
     // Set the handling for job control signals back to the default.
diff --git a/src/postfork.h b/src/postfork.h
index 997c5f07b..3085fe0ef 100644
--- a/src/postfork.h
+++ b/src/postfork.h
@@ -27,9 +27,11 @@ bool child_set_group(job_t *j, process_t *p);     // called by child
 /// inside the exec function, which blocks all signals), and all IO redirections and other file
 /// descriptor actions are performed.
 ///
+/// Assign the terminal to new_termowner unless it is INVALID_PID.
+///
 /// \return 0 on sucess, -1 on failiure. When this function returns, signals are always unblocked.
-/// On failiure, signal handlers, io redirections and process group of the process is undefined.
-int child_setup_process(const job_t *job, bool is_forked, const dup2_list_t &dup2s);
+/// On failure, signal handlers, io redirections and process group of the process is undefined.
+int child_setup_process(pid_t new_termowner, bool is_forked, const dup2_list_t &dup2s);
 
 /// Call fork(), optionally waiting until we are no longer multithreaded. If the forked child
 /// doesn't do anything that could allocate memory, take a lock, etc. (like call exec), then it's