diff --git a/ircd/ircd.c b/ircd/ircd.c
index de8e80a4..4e5093fc 100644
--- a/ircd/ircd.c
+++ b/ircd/ircd.c
@@ -225,6 +225,12 @@ make_daemon(void)
 	   we need control over the parent after forking to print
 	   the startup message -- Aaron */
 
+	if((nullfd = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR)) < 0)
+	{
+		perror("open /dev/null");
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
 	if((pid = fork()) < 0)
 	{
 		perror("fork");
@@ -238,12 +244,6 @@ make_daemon(void)
 		exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
 	}
 
-	if((nullfd = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR)) < 0)
-	{
-		perror("open /dev/null");
-		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-	}
-
 	for(fdx = 0; fdx <= 2; fdx++)
 		if (fdx != nullfd)
 			(void) dup2(nullfd, fdx);