diff --git a/src/Flare.cc b/src/Flare.cc
index 4229ffb63c..166917d914 100644
--- a/src/Flare.cc
+++ b/src/Flare.cc
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@ Flare::Flare()
 	{
 	}
 
-static void bad_pipe_op(const char* which)
+static void bad_pipe_op(const char* which, bool signal_safe)
 	{
+	if ( signal_safe )
+		abort();
+
 	char buf[256];
 	bro_strerror_r(errno, buf, sizeof(buf));
 
@@ -27,7 +30,7 @@ static void bad_pipe_op(const char* which)
 		}
 	}
 
-void Flare::Fire()
+void Flare::Fire(bool signal_safe)
 	{
 	char tmp = 0;
 
@@ -49,14 +52,14 @@ void Flare::Fire()
 				// Interrupted: try again.
 				continue;
 
-			bad_pipe_op("write");
+			bad_pipe_op("write", signal_safe);
 			}
 
 		// No error, but didn't write a byte: try again.
 		}
 	}
 
-int Flare::Extinguish()
+int Flare::Extinguish(bool signal_safe)
 	{
 	int rval = 0;
 	char tmp[256];
@@ -80,7 +83,7 @@ int Flare::Extinguish()
 			// Interrupted: try again.
 			continue;
 
-		bad_pipe_op("read");
+		bad_pipe_op("read", signal_safe);
 		}
 
 	return rval;
diff --git a/src/Flare.h b/src/Flare.h
index ebe902c172..4c781387bf 100644
--- a/src/Flare.h
+++ b/src/Flare.h
@@ -26,15 +26,19 @@ public:
 
 	/**
 	 * Put the object in the "ready" state.
+	 * @param signal_safe  whether to skip error-reporting functionality that
+	 * is not async-signal-safe
 	 */
-	void Fire();
+	void Fire(bool signal_safe = false);
 
 	/**
 	 * Take the object out of the "ready" state.
+	 * @param signal_safe  whether to skip error-reporting functionality that
+	 * is not async-signal-safe
 	 * @return number of bytes read from the pipe, corresponds to the number
 	 * of times Fire() was called.
 	 */
-	int Extinguish();
+	int Extinguish(bool signal_safe = false);
 
 private:
 	Pipe pipe;
diff --git a/src/Supervisor.cc b/src/Supervisor.cc
index 4de9e88267..4c4484029e 100644
--- a/src/Supervisor.cc
+++ b/src/Supervisor.cc
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ struct Stem {
 
 	void LogError(const char* format, ...) const __attribute__((format(printf, 2, 3)));
 
+	int last_signal = -1;
 	std::unique_ptr<bro::Flare> signal_flare;
 	std::unique_ptr<bro::PipePair> pipe;
 	std::map<std::string, Supervisor::Node> nodes;
@@ -77,13 +78,12 @@ static Stem* stem = nullptr;
 
 static RETSIGTYPE stem_sig_handler(int signo)
 	{
-	// TODO: signal safety
-	DBG_STEM("Stem received signal: %d", signo);
+	stem->last_signal = signo;
 
 	if ( stem->shutting_down )
 		return RETSIGVAL;
 
-	stem->signal_flare->Fire();
+	stem->signal_flare->Fire(true);
 
 	if ( signo == SIGTERM )
 		stem->shutting_down = true;
@@ -93,9 +93,7 @@ static RETSIGTYPE stem_sig_handler(int signo)
 
 static RETSIGTYPE supervisor_sig_handler(int signo)
 	{
-	// TODO: signal safety
-	DBG_LOG(DBG_SUPERVISOR, "received signal: %d", signo);
-	supervisor->ObserveChildSignal();
+	supervisor->ObserveChildSignal(signo);
 	return RETSIGVAL;
 	}
 
@@ -126,8 +124,8 @@ static std::string make_create_message(const Supervisor::NodeConfig& node)
 	}
 
 Supervisor::Supervisor(Supervisor::Config cfg,
-							 std::unique_ptr<bro::PipePair> pipe,
-                             pid_t arg_stem_pid)
+                       std::unique_ptr<bro::PipePair> pipe,
+                       pid_t arg_stem_pid)
 	: config(std::move(cfg)), stem_pid(arg_stem_pid), stem_pipe(std::move(pipe))
 	{
 	DBG_LOG(DBG_SUPERVISOR, "forked stem process %d", stem_pid);
@@ -171,9 +169,10 @@ Supervisor::~Supervisor()
 	while ( ProcessMessages() != 0 );
 	}
 
-void Supervisor::ObserveChildSignal()
+void Supervisor::ObserveChildSignal(int signo)
 	{
-	signal_flare.Fire();
+	last_signal = signo;
+	signal_flare.Fire(true);
 	}
 
 void Supervisor::ReapStem()
@@ -216,13 +215,19 @@ void Supervisor::ReapStem()
 
 void Supervisor::HandleChildSignal()
 	{
+	if ( last_signal >= 0 )
+		{
+		DBG_LOG(DBG_SUPERVISOR, "Supervisor received signal %d", last_signal);
+		last_signal = -1;
+		}
+
 	bool had_child_signal = signal_flare.Extinguish();
 
 	if ( had_child_signal )
 		{
 		ReapStem();
 
-		DBG_LOG(DBG_SUPERVISOR, "processed SIGCHLD %s",
+		DBG_LOG(DBG_SUPERVISOR, "Supervisor processed child signal %s",
 		        stem_pid ? "(spurious)" : "");
 		}
 
@@ -657,6 +662,12 @@ std::optional<Supervisor::NodeConfig> Stem::Poll()
 			}
 		}
 
+	if ( last_signal >= 0 )
+		{
+		DBG_STEM("Stem received signal: %d", last_signal);
+		last_signal = -1;
+		}
+
 	if ( getppid() == 1 )
 		{
 		// TODO: better way to detect loss of parent than polling ?
diff --git a/src/Supervisor.h b/src/Supervisor.h
index 2d74164e52..01429e6508 100644
--- a/src/Supervisor.h
+++ b/src/Supervisor.h
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public:
 	pid_t StemPID() const
 		{ return stem_pid; }
 
-	void ObserveChildSignal();
+	void ObserveChildSignal(int signo);
 
 	RecordVal* Status(std::string_view node_name);
 	std::string Create(const RecordVal* node);
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ private:
 	Config config;
 	pid_t stem_pid;
 	std::unique_ptr<bro::PipePair> stem_pipe;
+	int last_signal = -1;
 	bro::Flare signal_flare;
 	NodeMap nodes;
 	std::string msg_buffer;