diff --git a/src/exec.cpp b/src/exec.cpp
index dd5763128..9f05a5d8e 100644
--- a/src/exec.cpp
+++ b/src/exec.cpp
@@ -1199,6 +1199,13 @@ void exec_job(parser_t &parser, job_t *j) {
         }
     }
 
+    //unblock the last process in the group
+    if (blocked_pid != -1)
+    {
+        kill(blocked_pid, SIGCONT);
+        blocked_pid = -1;
+    }
+
     // Clean up any file descriptors we left open.
     if (pipe_current_read >= 0) exec_close(pipe_current_read);
     if (pipe_current_write >= 0) exec_close(pipe_current_write);