diff --git a/engines/e_dasync.c b/engines/e_dasync.c
index 0580103d239dbe2a81b7461978e37af38e8ad385..25dd233769dc21e451b886c4ee1f0008a83765f4 100644
--- a/engines/e_dasync.c
+++ b/engines/e_dasync.c
@@ -338,7 +338,8 @@ static void dummy_pause_job(void) {
 #if defined(ASYNC_WIN)
     WriteFile(pipefds[1], &buf, 1, &numwritten, NULL);
 #elif defined(ASYNC_POSIX)
-    write(pipefds[1], &buf, 1);
+    if (write(pipefds[1], &buf, 1) < 0)
+        return;
 #endif
 
     /* Ignore errors - we carry on anyway */
@@ -348,7 +349,8 @@ static void dummy_pause_job(void) {
 #if defined(ASYNC_WIN)
     ReadFile(pipefds[0], &buf, 1, &numread, NULL);
 #elif defined(ASYNC_POSIX)
-    read(pipefds[0], &buf, 1);
+    if (read(pipefds[0], &buf, 1) < 0)
+        return;
 #endif
 }