diff --git a/lib/awful/spawn.lua b/lib/awful/spawn.lua
index 113ee6b02..3aa432dc3 100644
--- a/lib/awful/spawn.lua
+++ b/lib/awful/spawn.lua
@@ -91,17 +91,27 @@ end
 
 --- Spawn a program and asynchronously and capture its output line by line.
 -- @tparam string|table cmd The command.
--- @tparam[opt] function stdout_callback Function that is called with each line of
---   output on stdout, e.g. `stdout_callback(line)`.
--- @tparam[opt] function stderr_callback Function that is called with each line of
---   output on stderr, e.g. `stderr_callback(line)`.
--- @tparam[opt] function done_callback Function to call when no more output is
---   produced.
+-- @tab callbacks Table containing callbacks that should be
+--   invoked on various conditions.
+-- @tparam[opt] function callbacks.stdout Function that is called with each line of
+--   output on stdout, e.g. `stdout(line)`.
+-- @tparam[opt] function callbacks.stderr Function that is called with each line of
+--   output on stderr, e.g. `stderr(line)`.
+-- @tparam[opt] function callbacks.output_done Function to call when no more output
+--   is produced.
+-- @tparam[opt] function callbacks.exit Function to call when the spawned process
+-- exits. This function gets the exit reason and code as its argument. The
+-- reason can be "exit" or "signal". For "exit", the second argument is the exit
+-- code. For "signal", the second argument is the signal causing process
+-- termination.
 -- @treturn[1] Integer the PID of the forked process.
 -- @treturn[2] string Error message.
-function spawn.with_line_callback(cmd, stdout_callback, stderr_callback, done_callback)
+function spawn.with_line_callback(cmd, callbacks)
+    local stdout_callback, stderr_callback, done_callback, exit_callback =
+        callbacks.stdout, callbacks.stderr, callbacks.output_done, callbacks.exit
     local have_stdout, have_stderr = stdout_callback ~= nil, stderr_callback ~= nil
-    local pid, sn_id, stdin, stdout, stderr = capi.awesome.spawn(cmd, false, false, have_stdout, have_stderr)
+    local pid, sn_id, stdin, stdout, stderr = capi.awesome.spawn(cmd,
+            false, false, have_stdout, have_stderr, exit_callback)
     if type(pid) == "string" then
         -- Error
         return pid
diff --git a/spawn.c b/spawn.c
index 51830046f..bdf715aec 100644
--- a/spawn.c
+++ b/spawn.c
@@ -342,6 +342,28 @@ parse_command(lua_State *L, int idx, GError **error)
     return argv;
 }
 
+/** Callback for when a spawned process exits. */
+static void
+child_exit_callback(GPid pid, gint status, gpointer user_data)
+{
+    lua_State *L = globalconf_get_lua_State();
+    int exit_callback = GPOINTER_TO_INT(user_data);
+
+    /* 'Decode' the exit status */
+    if (WIFEXITED(status)) {
+        lua_pushliteral(L, "exit");
+        lua_pushnumber(L, WEXITSTATUS(status));
+    } else {
+        assert(WIFSIGNALED(status));
+        lua_pushliteral(L, "signal");
+        lua_pushnumber(L, WTERMSIG(status));
+    }
+
+    lua_rawgeti(L, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, exit_callback);
+    luaA_dofunction(L, 2, 0);
+    luaA_unregister(L, &exit_callback);
+}
+
 /** Spawn a program.
  * The program will be started on the default screen.
  *
@@ -350,6 +372,9 @@ parse_command(lua_State *L, int idx, GError **error)
  * @tparam[opt=false] boolean stdin Return a fd for stdin?
  * @tparam[opt=false] boolean stdout Return a fd for stdout?
  * @tparam[opt=false] boolean stderr Return a fd for stderr?
+ * @tparam[opt=nil] function exit_callback Function to call on process exit. The
+ * function arguments will be type of exit ("exit" or "signal") and the exit
+ * code / the signal number causing process termination.
  * @treturn[1] integer Process ID if everything is OK.
  * @treturn[1] string Startup-notification ID, if `use_sn` is true.
  * @treturn[1] integer stdin, if `stdin` is true.
@@ -365,6 +390,7 @@ luaA_spawn(lua_State *L)
     bool use_sn = true, return_stdin = false, return_stdout = false, return_stderr = false;
     int stdin_fd = -1, stdout_fd = -1, stderr_fd = -1;
     int *stdin_ptr = NULL, *stdout_ptr = NULL, *stderr_ptr = NULL;
+    GSpawnFlags flags = 0;
     gboolean retval;
     GPid pid;
 
@@ -376,6 +402,11 @@ luaA_spawn(lua_State *L)
         return_stdout = luaA_checkboolean(L, 4);
     if(lua_gettop(L) >= 5)
         return_stderr = luaA_checkboolean(L, 5);
+    if(lua_gettop(L) >= 6)
+    {
+        luaA_checkfunction(L, 6);
+        flags |= G_SPAWN_DO_NOT_REAP_CHILD;
+    }
     if(return_stdin)
         stdin_ptr = &stdin_fd;
     if(return_stdout)
@@ -409,7 +440,8 @@ luaA_spawn(lua_State *L)
         g_timeout_add_seconds(AWESOME_SPAWN_TIMEOUT, spawn_launchee_timeout, context);
     }
 
-    retval = g_spawn_async_with_pipes(NULL, argv, NULL, G_SPAWN_SEARCH_PATH,
+    flags |= G_SPAWN_SEARCH_PATH;
+    retval = g_spawn_async_with_pipes(NULL, argv, NULL, flags,
                                       spawn_callback, context, &pid,
                                       stdin_ptr, stdout_ptr, stderr_ptr, &error);
     g_strfreev(argv);
@@ -424,6 +456,14 @@ luaA_spawn(lua_State *L)
         return 1;
     }
 
+    if(flags & G_SPAWN_DO_NOT_REAP_CHILD)
+    {
+        int exit_callback = LUA_REFNIL;
+        /* Only do this down here to avoid leaks in case of errors */
+        luaA_registerfct(L, 6, &exit_callback);
+        g_child_watch_add(pid, child_exit_callback, GINT_TO_POINTER(exit_callback));
+    }
+
     /* push pid on stack */
     lua_pushnumber(L, pid);
 
diff --git a/tests/test-spawn.lua b/tests/test-spawn.lua
index 8341f6533..b087af93f 100644
--- a/tests/test-spawn.lua
+++ b/tests/test-spawn.lua
@@ -3,40 +3,61 @@
 local spawn = require("awful.spawn")
 
 local spawns_done = 0
+local exit_yay, exit_snd = nil, nil
 
 local steps = {
   function(count)
     if count == 1 then
       local steps_yay = 0
-      spawn.with_line_callback("echo yay", function(line)
-        assert(line == "yay", "line == '" .. tostring(line) .. "'")
-        assert(steps_yay == 0)
-        steps_yay = steps_yay + 1
-      end, nil, function()
-        assert(steps_yay == 1)
-        steps_yay = steps_yay + 1
-        spawns_done = spawns_done + 1
-      end)
+      spawn.with_line_callback("echo yay", {
+          stdout = function(line)
+              assert(line == "yay", "line == '" .. tostring(line) .. "'")
+              assert(steps_yay == 0)
+              steps_yay = steps_yay + 1
+          end,
+          output_done = function()
+              assert(steps_yay == 1)
+              steps_yay = steps_yay + 1
+              spawns_done = spawns_done + 1
+          end,
+          exit = function(reason, code)
+              assert(reason == "exit")
+              assert(exit_yay == nil)
+              assert(code == 0)
+              exit_yay = code
+          end
+      })
 
       local steps_count = 0
       local err_count = 0
-      spawn.with_line_callback({ "sh", "-c", "printf line1\\\\nline2\\\\nline3 ; echo err >&2" },
-      function(line)
-        assert(steps_count < 3)
-        steps_count = steps_count + 1
-        assert(line == "line" .. steps_count, "line == '" .. tostring(line) .. "'")
-      end, function(line)
-        assert(err_count == 0)
-        err_count = err_count + 1
-        assert(line == "err", "line == '" .. tostring(line) .. "'")
-      end, function()
-        assert(steps_count == 3)
-        assert(err_count == 1)
-        steps_count = steps_count + 1
-        spawns_done = spawns_done + 1
-      end)
+      spawn.with_line_callback({ "sh", "-c", "printf line1\\\\nline2\\\\nline3 ; echo err >&2 ; exit 42" }, {
+          stdout = function(line)
+              assert(steps_count < 3)
+              steps_count = steps_count + 1
+              assert(line == "line" .. steps_count, "line == '" .. tostring(line) .. "'")
+          end,
+          stderr = function(line)
+              assert(err_count == 0)
+              err_count = err_count + 1
+              assert(line == "err", "line == '" .. tostring(line) .. "'")
+          end,
+          output_done = function()
+              assert(steps_count == 3)
+              assert(err_count == 1)
+              steps_count = steps_count + 1
+              spawns_done = spawns_done + 1
+          end,
+          exit = function(reason, code)
+              assert(reason == "exit")
+              assert(exit_snd == nil)
+              assert(code == 42)
+              exit_snd = code
+          end
+      })
     end
     if spawns_done == 2 then
+      assert(exit_yay == 0)
+      assert(exit_snd == 42)
       return true
     end
   end,