diff --git a/src/kiwmi/ipc.c b/src/kiwmi/ipc.c
index 8471b9f..fcb4380 100644
--- a/src/kiwmi/ipc.c
+++ b/src/kiwmi/ipc.c
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ init_socket(void)
 #define CMDIS(c) (strcmp(command, (c)) == 0)
 
 void
-handle_ipc_event(char *msg)
+handle_ipc_event(FILE *client, char *msg)
 {
 	char *command = strtok(msg, " ");
 
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ handle_ipc_event(char *msg)
 		exec_config();
 	} else if (CMDIS("exec")) {
 		char *command = strtok(NULL, "");
+		fclose(client);
 		execl("/bin/sh", "/bin/sh", "-c", command, NULL);
 		g_is_about_to_quit = true;
 	} else {
diff --git a/src/kiwmi/ipc.h b/src/kiwmi/ipc.h
index 670891e..642e78e 100644
--- a/src/kiwmi/ipc.h
+++ b/src/kiwmi/ipc.h
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
 #ifndef IPC_H
 #define IPC_H
 
+#include <stdio.h>
+
 void init_socket(void);
-void handle_ipc_event(char *msg);
+void handle_ipc_event(FILE *client, char *msg);
 
 extern int g_sock_fd;
 
diff --git a/src/kiwmi/main.c b/src/kiwmi/main.c
index 8c1fce3..f22e560 100644
--- a/src/kiwmi/main.c
+++ b/src/kiwmi/main.c
@@ -117,8 +117,15 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if (!(client_fd < 0) && (msg_len = read(client_fd, msg, sizeof(msg) - 1)) > 0) {
 				// client sent something
 				msg[msg_len] = '\0';
-				handle_ipc_event(msg);
-				close(client_fd);
+
+				FILE *file = fdopen(client_fd, "w");
+				if (!file) {
+					warn("failed to open client as file\n");
+					close(client_fd);
+				} else {
+					handle_ipc_event(file, msg);
+					fclose(file);
+				}
 			}
 		}