diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
index 0cf351ba2a..9c88c8d710 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
@@ -216,20 +216,24 @@ protected
   # Pretty titles the command and buffers stdout/stderr
   # Throws if there's an error
   def system cmd, *args
-    full="#{cmd} #{args*' '}".strip
-    ohai full
+    ohai "#{cmd} #{args*' '}".strip
+
     if ARGV.verbose?
       safe_system cmd, *args
     else
-      out=''
-      # TODO write a ruby extension that does a good popen :P
-      IO.popen "#{full} 2>&1" do |f|
-        until f.eof?
-          out+=f.gets
-        end
+      rd, wr = IO.pipe
+      fork do
+        rd.close
+        $stdout.reopen wr
+        $stderr.reopen wr
+        exec cmd, *args
       end
-      unless $? == 0
-        puts "Exit code: #{$?}"
+      out = ''
+      ignore_interrupts do
+        wr.close
+        out << rd.read until rd.eof?
+      end
+      unless $?.success?
         puts out
         raise
       end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/formula_installer.rb b/Library/Homebrew/formula_installer.rb
index 326d8ed513..498029d2ff 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/formula_installer.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/formula_installer.rb
@@ -2,13 +2,6 @@ require 'beer_events'
 require 'formula'
 require 'set'
 
-def ignore_interrupts
-  std_trap = trap("INT") {}
-  yield
-ensure
-  trap("INT", std_trap)
-end
-
 class FormulaInstaller
   @@attempted = Set.new
 
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
index 0f94cce6eb..e30512ff91 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
@@ -150,3 +150,10 @@ def inreplace path, before, after
   f.reopen(path, 'w').write(o)
   f.close
 end
+
+def ignore_interrupts
+  std_trap = trap("INT") {}
+  yield
+ensure
+  trap("INT", std_trap)
+end