diff --git a/src/libstore/build/child.cc b/src/libstore/build/child.cc
index a82a5eec9..3b675d8b4 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/child.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build/child.cc
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-void commonChildInit()
+void commonExecveingChildInit()
 {
     logger = makeSimpleLogger();
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/build/child.hh b/src/libstore/build/child.hh
index 3dfc552b9..3464865e8 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/child.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/build/child.hh
@@ -4,8 +4,12 @@
 namespace nix {
 
 /**
- * Common initialisation performed in child processes.
+ * Common initialisation performed in child processes that are just going to
+ * execve.
+ *
+ * These processes may not use ReceiveInterrupts as they do not have an
+ * interrupt receiving thread.
  */
-void commonChildInit();
+void commonExecveingChildInit();
 
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/build/hook-instance.cc b/src/libstore/build/hook-instance.cc
index 9f76eca4d..6c5cffcf9 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/hook-instance.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build/hook-instance.cc
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ HookInstance::HookInstance()
         if (dup2(fromHook_.writeSide.get(), STDERR_FILENO) == -1)
             throw SysError("cannot pipe standard error into log file");
 
-        commonChildInit();
+        commonExecveingChildInit();
 
         if (chdir("/") == -1) throw SysError("changing into /");
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc b/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
index c8c68f99f..6f5657617 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
@@ -1364,7 +1364,7 @@ void LocalDerivationGoal::runChild()
 
     try { /* child */
 
-        commonChildInit();
+        commonExecveingChildInit();
 
         setupSyscallFilter();
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/current-process.hh b/src/libutil/current-process.hh
index 8d5a2791d..245946368 100644
--- a/src/libutil/current-process.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/current-process.hh
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ void setStackSize(rlim_t stackSize);
 
 /**
  * Restore the original inherited Unix process context (such as signal
- * masks, stack size).
-
+ * masks, stack size). This should generally be called after fork for a process
+ * intending to simply execve.
+ *
  * See startSignalHandlerThread(), saveSignalMask().
  */
 void restoreProcessContext(bool restoreMounts = true);
diff --git a/src/libutil/signals.cc b/src/libutil/signals.cc
index dac2964ae..6d5201a78 100644
--- a/src/libutil/signals.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/signals.cc
@@ -118,11 +118,16 @@ void saveSignalMask() {
     savedSignalMaskIsSet = true;
 }
 
-void startSignalHandlerThread()
+void startSignalHandlerThread(DoSignalSave doSave)
 {
     updateWindowSize();
 
-    saveSignalMask();
+    switch (doSave) {
+        case DoSignalSave::Save:
+            saveSignalMask();
+            break;
+        case DoSignalSave::DontSaveBecauseAdvancedProcess: break;
+    }
 
     sigset_t set;
     sigemptyset(&set);
diff --git a/src/libutil/signals.hh b/src/libutil/signals.hh
index 538ff94b4..10ee38e60 100644
--- a/src/libutil/signals.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/signals.hh
@@ -1,5 +1,23 @@
 #pragma once
-/// @file
+/** @file Signal handling in Lix
+ *
+ * Processes are expected to be either:
+ * - Advanced processes which call into Lix's logic, like the daemon processes.
+ * - Basic processes that are just going to execve.
+ *
+ * Processes should be set up accordingly following a fork:
+ * In the first case, such processes should have a signal handler thread that
+ * catches SIGINT and dispatches it to the rest of the system so they should
+ * call startSignalHandlerThread(). In the second case, processes should call
+ * restoreProcessContext(), possibly with `false` (depends on whether mounts
+ * should be restored), which will unmask SIGINT and other signals that were
+ * previously masked in an advanced process such as the one that started
+ * them, so the process can be interrupted.
+ *
+ * It is generally a mistake to fork a process without at least calling
+ * restoreSignals() or restoreProcessContext().
+ */
+
 
 #include "error.hh"
 
@@ -36,13 +54,31 @@ MakeError(Interrupted, BaseError);
 void restoreSignals();
 
 
+/**
+ * Whether to save the signal mask when starting the signal handler thread.
+ *
+ * The signal mask shouldn't be saved if the current signal mask is the one for
+ * processes with a signal handler thread.
+ */
+enum class DoSignalSave
+{
+    Save,
+    DontSaveBecauseAdvancedProcess,
+};
+
 /**
  * Start a thread that handles various signals. Also block those signals
  * on the current thread (and thus any threads created by it).
- * Saves the signal mask before changing the mask to block those signals.
- * See saveSignalMask().
+ *
+ * Optionally saves the signal mask before changing the mask to block those
+ * signals. See saveSignalMask().
+ *
+ * This should also be executed after certain forks from Lix processes that
+ * expect to be "advanced" (see file doc comment), since the signal thread will
+ * die on fork. Of course this whole situation is kind of unsound since we
+ * definitely violate async-signal-safety requirements, but, well.
  */
-void startSignalHandlerThread();
+void startSignalHandlerThread(DoSignalSave doSave = DoSignalSave::Save);
 
 /**
  * Saves the signal mask, which is the signal mask that nix will restore
diff --git a/src/nix/daemon.cc b/src/nix/daemon.cc
index e1d183d7b..4b84d19eb 100644
--- a/src/nix/daemon.cc
+++ b/src/nix/daemon.cc
@@ -356,6 +356,10 @@ static void daemonLoop(std::optional<TrustedFlag> forceTrustClientOpt)
                 if (setsid() == -1)
                     throw SysError("creating a new session");
 
+                // Restart the signal handler thread since it met its untimely
+                // demise at fork time.
+                startSignalHandlerThread(DoSignalSave::DontSaveBecauseAdvancedProcess);
+
                 //  Restore normal handling of SIGCHLD.
                 setSigChldAction(false);