diff --git a/lib/pure/osproc.nim b/lib/pure/osproc.nim
index e8bca4bdd1..f86acfc492 100644
--- a/lib/pure/osproc.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/osproc.nim
@@ -884,11 +884,9 @@ elif not defined(useNimRtl):
         chck posix_spawn_file_actions_adddup2(fops, data.pStdin[readIdx], readIdx)
         chck posix_spawn_file_actions_addclose(fops, data.pStdout[readIdx])
         chck posix_spawn_file_actions_adddup2(fops, data.pStdout[writeIdx], writeIdx)
-        chck posix_spawn_file_actions_addclose(fops, data.pStderr[readIdx])
         if (poStdErrToStdOut in data.options):
+          chck posix_spawn_file_actions_addclose(fops, data.pStderr[readIdx])
           chck posix_spawn_file_actions_adddup2(fops, data.pStdout[writeIdx], 2)
-        else:
-          chck posix_spawn_file_actions_adddup2(fops, data.pStderr[writeIdx], 2)
 
       var res: cint
       if data.workingDir.len > 0: