diff --git a/src/os/open.zig b/src/os/open.zig
index 39f28036f..ce62a7e0b 100644
--- a/src/os/open.zig
+++ b/src/os/open.zig
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ const std = @import("std");
 const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
 
+const log = std.log.scoped(.@"os-open");
+
 /// The type of the data at the URL to open. This is used as a hint
 /// to potentially open the URL in a different way.
 pub const Type = enum {
@@ -12,68 +14,73 @@ pub const Type = enum {
 /// Open a URL in the default handling application.
 ///
 /// Any output on stderr is logged as a warning in the application logs.
-/// Output on stdout is ignored.
+/// Output on stdout is ignored. The allocator is used to buffer the
+/// log output and may allocate from another thread.
 pub fn open(
     alloc: Allocator,
     typ: Type,
     url: []const u8,
 ) !void {
-    const cmd: OpenCommand = switch (builtin.os.tag) {
-        .linux, .freebsd => .{ .child = std.process.Child.init(
+    var exe: std.process.Child = switch (builtin.os.tag) {
+        .linux, .freebsd => .init(
             &.{ "xdg-open", url },
             alloc,
-        ) },
+        ),
 
-        .windows => .{ .child = std.process.Child.init(
+        .windows => .init(
             &.{ "rundll32", "url.dll,FileProtocolHandler", url },
             alloc,
-        ) },
+        ),
 
-        .macos => .{
-            .child = std.process.Child.init(
-                switch (typ) {
-                    .text => &.{ "open", "-t", url },
-                    .unknown => &.{ "open", url },
-                },
-                alloc,
-            ),
-            .wait = true,
-        },
+        .macos => .init(
+            switch (typ) {
+                .text => &.{ "open", "-t", url },
+                .unknown => &.{ "open", url },
+            },
+            alloc,
+        ),
 
         .ios => return error.Unimplemented,
         else => @compileError("unsupported OS"),
     };
 
-    var exe = cmd.child;
-    if (cmd.wait) {
-        // Pipe stdout/stderr so we can collect output from the command
-        exe.stdout_behavior = .Pipe;
-        exe.stderr_behavior = .Pipe;
-    }
+    // Pipe stdout/stderr so we can collect output from the command.
+    // This must be set before spawning the process.
+    exe.stdout_behavior = .Pipe;
+    exe.stderr_behavior = .Pipe;
 
+    // Spawn the process on our same thread so we can detect failure
+    // quickly.
     try exe.spawn();
 
-    if (cmd.wait) {
-        // 50 KiB is the default value used by std.process.Child.run
-        const output_max_size = 50 * 1024;
-
-        var stdout: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8) = .{};
-        var stderr: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8) = .{};
-        defer {
-            stdout.deinit(alloc);
-            stderr.deinit(alloc);
-        }
-
-        try exe.collectOutput(alloc, &stdout, &stderr, output_max_size);
-        _ = try exe.wait();
-
-        // If we have any stderr output we log it. This makes it easier for
-        // users to debug why some open commands may not work as expected.
-        if (stderr.items.len > 0) std.log.err("open stderr={s}", .{stderr.items});
-    }
+    // Create a thread that handles collecting output and reaping
+    // the process. This is done in a separate thread because SOME
+    // open implementations block and some do not. It's easier to just
+    // spawn a thread to handle this so that we never block.
+    const thread = try std.Thread.spawn(.{}, openThread, .{ alloc, exe });
+    thread.detach();
 }
 
-const OpenCommand = struct {
-    child: std.process.Child,
-    wait: bool = false,
-};
+fn openThread(alloc: Allocator, exe_: std.process.Child) !void {
+    // 50 KiB is the default value used by std.process.Child.run and should
+    // be enough to get the output we care about.
+    const output_max_size = 50 * 1024;
+
+    var stdout: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8) = .{};
+    var stderr: std.ArrayListUnmanaged(u8) = .{};
+    defer {
+        stdout.deinit(alloc);
+        stderr.deinit(alloc);
+    }
+
+    // Copy the exe so it is non-const. This is necessary because wait()
+    // requires a mutable reference and we can't have one as a thread
+    // param.
+    var exe = exe_;
+    try exe.collectOutput(alloc, &stdout, &stderr, output_max_size);
+    _ = try exe.wait();
+
+    // If we have any stderr output we log it. This makes it easier for
+    // users to debug why some open commands may not work as expected.
+    if (stderr.items.len > 0) log.warn("wait stderr={s}", .{stderr.items});
+}