diff --git a/src/libutil/unix/processes.cc b/src/libutil/unix/processes.cc
index 43d9179d9..a9df1be60 100644
--- a/src/libutil/unix/processes.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/unix/processes.cc
@@ -200,8 +200,15 @@ static int childEntry(void * arg)
 pid_t startProcess(std::function<void()> fun, const ProcessOptions & options)
 {
     ChildWrapperFunction wrapper = [&] {
-        if (!options.allowVfork)
+        if (!options.allowVfork) {
+            /* Set a simple logger, while releasing (not destroying)
+               the parent logger. We don't want to run the parent
+               logger's destructor since that will crash (e.g. when
+               ~ProgressBar() tries to join a thread that doesn't
+               exist. */
+            logger.release();
             logger = makeSimpleLogger();
+        }
         try {
 #if __linux__
             if (options.dieWithParent && prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, SIGKILL) == -1)