diff --git a/keventd/rules.c b/keventd/rules.c
index 31580a47..48e46294 100644
--- a/keventd/rules.c
+++ b/keventd/rules.c
@@ -782,13 +782,9 @@ static int pattern_match(const char *pat, const char *subject, pat_type_t type)
 
 /* ----- program execution ------------------------------------------------ */
 
-/*
- * Fork and exec cmd via /bin/sh, capture stdout into result.
- * Temporarily restores SIGCHLD (keventd uses SIG_IGN) so waitpid works.
- */
+/* Fork and exec cmd via /bin/sh, capture stdout into result. */
 static int run_program(const char *cmd, char *result, size_t rlen)
 {
-	struct sigaction sa_dfl, sa_old;
 	int pipefd[2];
 	pid_t pid;
 	int rc = -1;
@@ -799,14 +795,8 @@ static int run_program(const char *cmd, char *result, size_t rlen)
 	if (pipe(pipefd) < 0)
 		return -1;
 
-	sigemptyset(&sa_dfl.sa_mask);
-	sa_dfl.sa_flags   = 0;
-	sa_dfl.sa_handler = SIG_DFL;
-	sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_dfl, &sa_old);
-
 	pid = fork();
 	if (pid < 0) {
-		sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_old, NULL);
 		close(pipefd[0]);
 		close(pipefd[1]);
 		return -1;
@@ -838,7 +828,6 @@ static int run_program(const char *cmd, char *result, size_t rlen)
 			rc = WIFEXITED(status) ? WEXITSTATUS(status) : -1;
 	}
 
-	sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_old, NULL);
 	return rc;
 }
 
diff --git a/keventd/uevent.c b/keventd/uevent.c
index 6c6801aa..10a3d021 100644
--- a/keventd/uevent.c
+++ b/keventd/uevent.c
@@ -1038,13 +1038,9 @@ fail:
  * Synchronous: waits for modprobe to complete before returning so
  * that rules running after `kmod load` (e.g. IMPORT{builtin}=blkid
  * once the filesystem driver is in) see the post-load state.
- * keventd's main loop uses SIGCHLD=SIG_IGN to auto-reap stray
- * children, so we temporarily restore the default handler here to
- * make waitpid() observable.
  */
 int modprobe_load(const char *modalias)
 {
-	struct sigaction sa_dfl, sa_old;
 	pid_t pid;
 	int   status = 0;
 
@@ -1053,15 +1049,9 @@ int modprobe_load(const char *modalias)
 
 	logit(LOG_DEBUG, "Loading module for %s", modalias);
 
-	sigemptyset(&sa_dfl.sa_mask);
-	sa_dfl.sa_flags   = 0;
-	sa_dfl.sa_handler = SIG_DFL;
-	sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_dfl, &sa_old);
-
 	pid = fork();
 	if (pid < 0) {
 		logit(LOG_ERR, "fork failed: %s", strerror(errno));
-		sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_old, NULL);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -1072,7 +1062,6 @@ int modprobe_load(const char *modalias)
 
 	while (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) < 0 && errno == EINTR)
 		;
-	sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_old, NULL);
 
 	if (!WIFEXITED(status) || WEXITSTATUS(status) != 0)
 		return -1;