diff --git a/src/c/unixsys.d b/src/c/unixsys.d
index af0214616..b6e52faa2 100644
--- a/src/c/unixsys.d
+++ b/src/c/unixsys.d
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ si_spawn_subprocess(cl_object command, cl_object argv, cl_object environ,
                       &child_stderr, 0, TRUE,
                       DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS);
       /* Same for the parent_read and parent_error. */
-      parent_error = _open_osfhandle((intptr_t)child_stderr, _O_RDONLY);
+      parent_error = dup(parent_read);
     }
     else
       create_descriptor(error, @':output', &child_stderr, &parent_error);