diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yaml b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
index 14af5427..fe2e6680 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yaml
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ jobs:
       run: docker run  --rm --privileged --sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0 rootlesskit:test-integration ./integration-ipv6.sh
     - name: "Integration test: systemd socket activation"
       run: docker run --rm --net=none --privileged rootlesskit:test-integration ./integration-systemd-socket.sh
+    - name: "Integration test: pdeathsig"
+      run: docker run --rm --privileged rootlesskit:test-integration ./integration-pdeathsig.sh
     - name: "Integration test: Network (network driver=slirp4netns)"
       run: |
         docker run --rm --privileged rootlesskit:test-integration ./integration-net.sh slirp4netns
diff --git a/hack/integration-pdeathsig.sh b/hack/integration-pdeathsig.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..593baa7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/integration-pdeathsig.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Test script to verify Pdeathsig behavior using rootlesskit itself
+# This script:
+# 1. Uses rootlesskit to spawn a long-running process
+# 2. Kills the rootlesskit parent process
+# 3. Verifies that the child process is killed as expected
+# 4. Tests both with --reaper true and --reaper false
+
+source $(realpath $(dirname $0))/common.inc.sh
+
+INFO "Starting Pdeathsig test using rootlesskit..."
+
+# Function to run the test with a specific reaper setting
+run_test() {
+    local reaper_setting=$1
+    INFO "Testing with --reaper $reaper_setting"
+
+    # Create a temporary directory for test artifacts
+    TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+    INFO "Created temporary directory: $TEMP_DIR"
+
+    # Create a marker file that will be touched by the child process if it's still alive
+    MARKER_FILE="$TEMP_DIR/child_still_alive"
+
+    # Create a script that will be executed by rootlesskit
+    CHILD_SCRIPT="$TEMP_DIR/child_script.sh"
+    cat > "$CHILD_SCRIPT" << 'EOF'
+#!/bin/bash
+echo "Child process started with PID: $$"
+echo "Parent PID: $PPID"
+
+# Register a trap to handle signals
+trap 'echo "Child received signal, exiting"; exit 1' TERM INT
+
+# Run for 30 seconds, checking if parent is still alive
+for i in {1..30}; do
+    echo "Child still running (iteration $i)..."
+
+    # Check if parent has changed (died)
+    CURRENT_PPID=$(ps -o ppid= -p $$)
+    if [ "$CURRENT_PPID" != "$PPID" ]; then
+        echo "Parent changed from $PPID to $CURRENT_PPID"
+        if [ "$CURRENT_PPID" = "1" ]; then
+            echo "Parent is now init (PID 1), parent has died"
+            echo "Child should be killed by Pdeathsig, but if you see this message, it wasn't"
+            touch MARKER_FILE_PLACEHOLDER
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    sleep 1
+done
+
+# If we reach here, the child wasn't killed
+echo "Child completed normally (this shouldn't happen if Pdeathsig is working)"
+touch MARKER_FILE_PLACEHOLDER
+EOF
+
+    # Replace the placeholder with the actual marker file path
+    sed -i "s|MARKER_FILE_PLACEHOLDER|$MARKER_FILE|g" "$CHILD_SCRIPT"
+    chmod +x "$CHILD_SCRIPT"
+
+    # Start rootlesskit with the child script
+    INFO "Starting rootlesskit with --reaper $reaper_setting..."
+    if [ "$reaper_setting" = "true" ]; then
+        $ROOTLESSKIT --reaper $reaper_setting --pidns "$CHILD_SCRIPT" &
+    else
+        $ROOTLESSKIT --reaper $reaper_setting "$CHILD_SCRIPT" &
+    fi
+    ROOTLESSKIT_PID=$!
+    INFO "Rootlesskit started with PID: $ROOTLESSKIT_PID"
+
+    # Wait a moment for the child to start
+    sleep 2
+
+    # Find the child process
+    ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID=$(pgrep -P $ROOTLESSKIT_PID)
+    if [ -z "$ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID" ]; then
+        ERROR "Failed to find rootlesskit child process"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    INFO "Found rootlesskit child process with PID: $ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID"
+
+    # Kill the rootlesskit process
+    INFO "Killing rootlesskit process (PID: $ROOTLESSKIT_PID)..."
+    kill -9 $ROOTLESSKIT_PID
+
+    # Wait a moment for the rootlesskit child to be killed
+    sleep 2
+
+    # Check if the rootlesskit child process is still running
+    if ps -p $ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID > /dev/null; then
+        ERROR "FAIL: Rootlesskit Child process (PID: $ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID) is still running after rootlesskit parent was killed"
+        kill -9 $ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID  # Clean up
+        return 1
+    else
+        INFO "PASS: Rootlesskit Child process (PID: $ROOTLESSKIT_CHILD_PID) was killed as expected"
+    fi
+
+    # Check if the marker file exists
+    if [ -f "$MARKER_FILE" ]; then
+        ERROR "FAIL: Marker file exists, which means the child process wasn't killed by Pdeathsig"
+        return 1
+    else
+        INFO "PASS: Marker file doesn't exist, which means the child process was killed by Pdeathsig"
+    fi
+
+    INFO "Test with --reaper $reaper_setting completed successfully!"
+    rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"
+    return 0
+}
+
+# Run tests with both reaper settings
+if ! run_test "true"; then
+    ERROR "Test with --reaper true failed"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! run_test "false"; then
+    ERROR "Test with --reaper false failed"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+INFO "All tests completed successfully!"
+exit 0
diff --git a/pkg/child/child.go b/pkg/child/child.go
index d32cb675..e23e6e9c 100644
--- a/pkg/child/child.go
+++ b/pkg/child/child.go
@@ -442,12 +442,6 @@ func Child(opt Opt) error {
 
 	// The parent calls child with Pdeathsig, but it is cleared when newuidmap SUID binary is called
 	// https://github.com/rootless-containers/rootlesskit/issues/65#issuecomment-492343646
-	runtime.LockOSThread()
-	err = unix.Prctl(unix.PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, uintptr(unix.SIGKILL), 0, 0, 0)
-	runtime.UnlockOSThread()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
 	os.Unsetenv(opt.PipeFDEnvKey)
 	if err := pipeR.Close(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to close fd %d: %w", pipeFD, err)
@@ -483,17 +477,50 @@ func Child(opt Opt) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	// Create a channel to receive errors from the goroutine
+	cmdErrCh := make(chan error, 1)
+
 	if opt.Reaper {
-		if err := runAndReap(cmd); err != nil {
+		// Launch a goroutine to execute the command with Pdeathsig
+		go func() {
+			// Lock the goroutine to the OS thread
+			runtime.LockOSThread()
+			defer runtime.UnlockOSThread()
+
+			// Set the parent death signal
+			if err := unix.Prctl(unix.PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, uintptr(unix.SIGKILL), 0, 0, 0); err != nil {
+				cmdErrCh <- err
+				return
+			}
+
+			// Run the command
+			cmdErrCh <- runAndReap(cmd)
+		}()
+
+		// Wait for the command to complete
+		if err := <-cmdErrCh; err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("command %v exited: %w", opt.TargetCmd, err)
 		}
 	} else {
-		if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("command %v exited: %w", opt.TargetCmd, err)
-		}
-		sigc := sigproxy.ForwardAllSignals(context.TODO(), cmd.Process.Pid)
-		defer sigproxysignal.StopCatch(sigc)
-		if err := cmd.Wait(); err != nil {
+		// Launch a goroutine to execute the command with Pdeathsig
+		go func() {
+			// Lock the goroutine to the OS thread
+			runtime.LockOSThread()
+			defer runtime.UnlockOSThread()
+
+			// Set the parent death signal
+			if err := unix.Prctl(unix.PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, uintptr(unix.SIGKILL), 0, 0, 0); err != nil {
+				cmdErrCh <- err
+				return
+			}
+
+			// Run the command without reaping
+			cmdErrCh <- runWithoutReap(cmd)
+		}()
+
+		// Wait for the command to complete
+		if err := <-cmdErrCh; err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("command %v exited: %w", opt.TargetCmd, err)
 		}
 	}
@@ -514,6 +541,16 @@ func setMountPropagation(propagation string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func runWithoutReap(cmd *exec.Cmd) error {
+	cmd.SysProcAttr.Setsid = true
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	sigc := sigproxy.ForwardAllSignals(context.TODO(), cmd.Process.Pid)
+	defer sigproxysignal.StopCatch(sigc)
+	return cmd.Wait()
+}
+
 func runAndReap(cmd *exec.Cmd) error {
 	c := make(chan os.Signal, 32)
 	signal.Notify(c, syscall.SIGCHLD)