diff --git a/docker-build-centos.sh b/docker-build-centos.sh
index ea09c2e..72e50fe 100755
--- a/docker-build-centos.sh
+++ b/docker-build-centos.sh
@@ -19,10 +19,10 @@ export PATH=/opt/rh/devtoolset-7/root/usr/bin:\$PATH
 mkdir /build
 cd /build
 
-wget -O capnproto.tar.gz https://github.com/capnproto/capnproto/archive/06a7136708955d91f8ddc1fa3d54e620eacba13e.tar.gz
+wget -O capnproto.tar.gz https://github.com/capnproto/capnproto/archive/df67f26862c011c6efb31a28fb0d2a2ca1b94ac8.tar.gz
 wget -O rapidjson.tar.gz https://github.com/miloyip/rapidjson/archive/v1.1.0.tar.gz
 md5sum -c <<EOF
-a24b4d6e671d97c8a2aacd0dd4677726  capnproto.tar.gz
+80c28dc26842b84dcbe8d930a97c70cf  capnproto.tar.gz
 badd12c511e081fec6c89c43a7027bce  rapidjson.tar.gz
 EOF
 
diff --git a/docker-build-debian.sh b/docker-build-debian.sh
index 65bedbf..5cd64f3 100755
--- a/docker-build-debian.sh
+++ b/docker-build-debian.sh
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ docker run --rm -i -v $SOURCE_DIR:/laminar:ro -v $OUTPUT_DIR:/output $DOCKER_TAG
 mkdir /build
 cd /build
 
-wget -O capnproto.tar.gz https://github.com/capnproto/capnproto/archive/06a7136708955d91f8ddc1fa3d54e620eacba13e.tar.gz
+wget -O capnproto.tar.gz https://github.com/capnproto/capnproto/archive/df67f26862c011c6efb31a28fb0d2a2ca1b94ac8.tar.gz
 wget -O rapidjson.tar.gz https://github.com/miloyip/rapidjson/archive/v1.1.0.tar.gz
 md5sum -c <<EOF
-a24b4d6e671d97c8a2aacd0dd4677726  capnproto.tar.gz
+80c28dc26842b84dcbe8d930a97c70cf  capnproto.tar.gz
 badd12c511e081fec6c89c43a7027bce  rapidjson.tar.gz
 EOF
 
diff --git a/src/interface.h b/src/interface.h
index d08fae0..99c16fc 100644
--- a/src/interface.h
+++ b/src/interface.h
@@ -137,9 +137,6 @@ struct LaminarInterface {
     // Abort all running jobs
     virtual void abortAll() = 0;
 
-    // Callback for laminar to reap child processes.
-    virtual void reapChildren() = 0;
-
     // Callback to handle a configuration modification notification
     virtual void notifyConfigChanged() = 0;
 };
diff --git a/src/laminar.cpp b/src/laminar.cpp
index 02a0925..f7c0213 100644
--- a/src/laminar.cpp
+++ b/src/laminar.cpp
@@ -360,7 +360,6 @@ void Laminar::sendStatus(LaminarClient* client) {
     }
     j.EndObject();
     client->sendMessage(j.str());
-
 }
 
 Laminar::~Laminar() {
@@ -501,21 +500,6 @@ std::shared_ptr<Run> Laminar::queueJob(std::string name, ParamMap params) {
     return run;
 }
 
-// Reaps a zombie and steps the corresponding Run to its next state.
-// Should be called on SIGCHLD
-void Laminar::reapChildren() {
-    int ret = 0;
-    pid_t pid;
-    while((pid = waitpid(-1, &ret, WNOHANG)) > 0) {
-        LLOG(INFO, "Reaping", pid);
-        auto it = pids.find(pid);
-        it->second->fulfill(kj::mv(ret));
-        pids.erase(it);
-    }
-
-    assignNewJobs();
-}
-
 void Laminar::notifyConfigChanged()
 {
     loadConfiguration();
@@ -688,6 +672,7 @@ bool Laminar::tryStartRun(std::shared_ptr<Run> run, int queueIndex) {
             // notify the rpc client if the start command was used
             run->started.fulfiller->fulfill();
 
+            // this actually spawns the first step
             srv->addTask(handleRunStep(run.get()).then([this,run]{
                 runFinished(run.get());
             }));
@@ -716,11 +701,9 @@ kj::Promise<void> Laminar::handleRunStep(Run* run) {
         return kj::READY_NOW;
     }
 
+    kj::Promise<int> exited = srv->onChildExit(run->current_pid);
     // promise is fulfilled when the process is reaped. But first we wait for all
     // output from the pipe (Run::output_fd) to be consumed.
-    auto paf = kj::newPromiseAndFulfiller<int>();
-    pids.emplace(run->current_pid, kj::mv(paf.fulfiller));
-
     return srv->readDescriptor(run->output_fd, [this,run](const char*b,size_t n){
         // handle log output
         std::string s(b, n);
@@ -729,7 +712,7 @@ kj::Promise<void> Laminar::handleRunStep(Run* run) {
             if(c->scope.wantsLog(run->name, run->build))
                 c->sendMessage(s);
         }
-    }).then([p = std::move(paf.promise)]() mutable {
+    }).then([p = std::move(exited)]() mutable {
         // wait until the process is reaped
         return kj::mv(p);
     }).then([this, run](int status){
@@ -791,7 +774,9 @@ void Laminar::runFinished(Run * r) {
         w->complete(r);
     }
 
-    // erase reference to run from activeJobs
+    // erase reference to run from activeJobs. Since runFinished is called in a
+    // lambda whose context contains a shared_ptr<Run>, the run won't be deleted
+    // until the context is destroyed at the end of the lambda execution.
     activeJobs.byRunPtr().erase(r);
 
     // remove old run directories
@@ -813,6 +798,9 @@ void Laminar::runFinished(Run * r) {
             break;
         fs::remove_all(d);
     }
+
+    // in case we freed up an executor, check the queue
+    assignNewJobs();
 }
 
 class MappedFileImpl : public MappedFile {
diff --git a/src/laminar.h b/src/laminar.h
index ce00895..8c898b2 100644
--- a/src/laminar.h
+++ b/src/laminar.h
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ public:
     kj::Own<MappedFile> getArtefact(std::string path) override;
     std::string getCustomCss() override;
     void abortAll() override;
-    void reapChildren() override;
     void notifyConfigChanged() override;
 
 private:
@@ -83,7 +82,6 @@ private:
     std::unordered_map<std::string, std::set<std::string>> jobTags;
 
     RunSet activeJobs;
-    std::map<pid_t, kj::Own<kj::PromiseFulfiller<int>>> pids;
     Database* db;
     Server* srv;
     NodeMap nodes;
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 73f025d..a76b51f 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 ///
 #include "laminar.h"
 #include "log.h"
-
 #include <signal.h>
+#include <kj/async-unix.h>
 
 static Laminar* laminar;
 
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     }
 
     laminar = new Laminar;
-
+    kj::UnixEventPort::captureChildExit();
     signal(SIGINT, &laminar_quit);
     signal(SIGTERM, &laminar_quit);
+
     laminar->run();
 
     delete laminar;
diff --git a/src/run.cpp b/src/run.cpp
index 2fc8169..3b3186f 100644
--- a/src/run.cpp
+++ b/src/run.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,10 @@ void Run::addEnv(std::string path) {
 void Run::abort() {
     // clear all pending scripts
     std::queue<Script>().swap(scripts);
-    kill(-current_pid, SIGTERM);
+    // if the Maybe is empty, wait() was already called on this process
+    KJ_IF_MAYBE(p, current_pid) {
+        kill(-*p, SIGTERM);
+    }
 }
 
 void Run::reaped(int status) {
diff --git a/src/run.h b/src/run.h
index e4f0a76..fe3021a 100644
--- a/src/run.h
+++ b/src/run.h
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public:
     std::string reasonMsg;
     uint build = 0;
     std::string log;
-    pid_t current_pid;
+    kj::Maybe<pid_t> current_pid;
     int output_fd;
     std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> params;
     kj::Promise<void> timeout = kj::NEVER_DONE;
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index c8103da..ada7b8d 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <capnp/rpc-twoparty.h>
 #include <capnp/rpc.capnp.h>
 #include <kj/async-io.h>
+#include <kj/async-unix.h>
 #include <kj/threadlocal.h>
 
 #include <sys/eventfd.h>
@@ -386,30 +387,12 @@ Server::Server(LaminarInterface& li, kj::StringPtr rpcBindAddress,
         return httpServer->listenHttp(*listener).attach(kj::mv(listener));
     }));
 
-    // handle SIGCHLD
-    {
-        sigset_t mask;
-        sigemptyset(&mask);
-        sigaddset(&mask, SIGCHLD);
-        sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, &mask, nullptr);
-        int sigchld = signalfd(-1, &mask, SFD_NONBLOCK|SFD_CLOEXEC);
-        auto event = ioContext.lowLevelProvider->wrapInputFd(sigchld, kj::LowLevelAsyncIoProvider::TAKE_OWNERSHIP);
-        auto buffer = kj::heapArrayBuilder<char>(PROC_IO_BUFSIZE);
-        reapWatch = handleFdRead(event, buffer.asPtr().begin(), [this](const char* buf, size_t){
-            const struct signalfd_siginfo* siginfo = reinterpret_cast<const struct signalfd_siginfo*>(buf);
-            KJ_ASSERT(siginfo->ssi_signo == SIGCHLD);
-            laminarInterface.reapChildren();
-        }).attach(std::move(event)).attach(std::move(buffer));
-    }
-
     // handle watched paths
     {
         inotify_fd = inotify_init1(IN_NONBLOCK | IN_CLOEXEC);
-        auto event = ioContext.lowLevelProvider->wrapInputFd(inotify_fd, kj::LowLevelAsyncIoProvider::TAKE_OWNERSHIP);
-        auto buffer = kj::heapArrayBuilder<char>(PROC_IO_BUFSIZE);
-        pathWatch = handleFdRead(event, buffer.asPtr().begin(), [this](const char*, size_t){
+        pathWatch = readDescriptor(inotify_fd, [this](const char*, size_t){
             laminarInterface.notifyConfigChanged();
-        }).attach(std::move(event)).attach(std::move(buffer));
+        });
     }
 }
 
@@ -438,7 +421,7 @@ void Server::start() {
     childTasks.onEmpty().wait(ioContext.waitScope);
     // 4. run the loop once more to send any pending output to websocket clients
     ioContext.waitScope.poll();
-    // 5. return: websockets will be destructed
+    // 5. return: websockets will be destructed when class is deleted
 }
 
 void Server::stop() {
@@ -453,8 +436,7 @@ kj::Promise<void> Server::readDescriptor(int fd, std::function<void(const char*,
     return handleFdRead(event, buffer.asPtr().begin(), cb).attach(std::move(event)).attach(std::move(buffer));
 }
 
-void Server::addTask(kj::Promise<void>&& task)
-{
+void Server::addTask(kj::Promise<void>&& task) {
     childTasks.add(kj::mv(task));
 }
 
@@ -464,6 +446,10 @@ kj::Promise<void> Server::addTimeout(int seconds, std::function<void ()> cb) {
     }).eagerlyEvaluate(nullptr);
 }
 
+kj::Promise<int> Server::onChildExit(kj::Maybe<pid_t> &pid) {
+    return ioContext.unixEventPort.onChildExit(pid);
+}
+
 void Server::addWatchPath(const char* dpath) {
     inotify_add_watch(inotify_fd, dpath, IN_ONLYDIR | IN_CLOSE_WRITE | IN_CREATE | IN_DELETE);
 }
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 26906a6..233c82e 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ public:
     // add a one-shot timer callback
     kj::Promise<void> addTimeout(int seconds, std::function<void()> cb);
 
+    // get a promise which resolves when a child process exits
+    kj::Promise<int> onChildExit(kj::Maybe<pid_t>& pid);
     // add a path to be watched for changes
     void addWatchPath(const char* dpath);
 
diff --git a/test/test-run.cpp b/test/test-run.cpp
index a847afe..32b5cc2 100644
--- a/test/test-run.cpp
+++ b/test/test-run.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ protected:
     }
     void wait() {
         int state = -1;
-        waitpid(run.current_pid, &state, 0);
+        waitpid(run.current_pid.orDefault(0), &state, 0);
         run.reaped(state);
     }
     void runAll() {
diff --git a/test/test-server.cpp b/test/test-server.cpp
index 2fa1e21..e708885 100644
--- a/test/test-server.cpp
+++ b/test/test-server.cpp
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ public:
     MOCK_METHOD4(setParam, bool(std::string job, uint buildNum, std::string param, std::string value));
     MOCK_METHOD0(getCustomCss, std::string());
     MOCK_METHOD0(abortAll, void());
-    MOCK_METHOD0(reapChildren, void());
     MOCK_METHOD0(notifyConfigChanged, void());
 };