diff --git a/IkiWiki/Plugin/googlecalendar.pm b/IkiWiki/Plugin/googlecalendar.pm
index c6abeb717..dc0df0ad3 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Plugin/googlecalendar.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Plugin/googlecalendar.pm
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ package IkiWiki::Plugin::googlecalendar;
 use warnings;
 use strict;
 use IkiWiki;
-use IPC::Open2;
 
 sub import { #{{{
 	hook(type => "preprocess", id => "googlecalendar",
diff --git a/IkiWiki/Plugin/htmltidy.pm b/IkiWiki/Plugin/htmltidy.pm
index 906c677dc..0609e72c3 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Plugin/htmltidy.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Plugin/htmltidy.pm
@@ -19,21 +19,13 @@ sub import { #{{{
 sub sanitize (@) { #{{{
 	my %params=@_;
 
-	my $tries=10;
 	my $pid;
-	while (1) {
-		eval {
-			$pid=open2(*IN, *OUT, 'tidy -quiet -asxhtml -utf8 --show-body-only yes --show-warnings no --tidy-mark no');
-		};
-		last unless $@;
-		$tries--;
-		if ($tries < 1) {
-			debug("failed to run tidy: $@");
-			return $params{content};
-		}
-	}
+	my $sigpipe=0;
+	$SIG{PIPE}=sub { $sigpipe=1 };
+	$pid=open2(*IN, *OUT, 'tidy -quiet -asxhtml -utf8 --show-body-only yes --show-warnings no --tidy-mark no');
+	
 	# open2 doesn't respect "use open ':utf8'"
-	binmode (IN, ':utf8'); 
+	binmode (IN, ':utf8');
 	binmode (OUT, ':utf8'); 
 	
 	print OUT $params{content};
@@ -44,6 +36,9 @@ sub sanitize (@) { #{{{
 	close IN;
 	waitpid $pid, 0;
 
+	return $params{content} if $sigpipe;
+	$SIG{PIPE}="DEFAULT";
+
 	return $ret;
 } # }}}
 
diff --git a/IkiWiki/Plugin/linkmap.pm b/IkiWiki/Plugin/linkmap.pm
index 6b1609744..497b1ef43 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Plugin/linkmap.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Plugin/linkmap.pm
@@ -63,18 +63,11 @@ sub genmap ($) { #{{{
 	# TODO: should really add the png to renderedfiles and call
 	# check_overwrite, but currently renderedfiles
 	# only supports listing one file per page.
-	my $tries=10;
 	my $pid;
-	while (1) {
-		eval {
-			$pid=open2(*IN, *OUT, "dot -Tpng -o '$config{destdir}/$params{page}.png' -Tcmapx");
-		};
-		last unless $@;
-		$tries--;
-		if ($tries < 1) {
-			return "failed to run dot: $@";
-		}
-	}
+	my $sigpipe=0;;
+	$SIG{PIPE}=sub { $sigpipe=1 };
+	$pid=open2(*IN, *OUT, "dot -Tpng -o '$config{destdir}/$params{page}.png' -Tcmapx");
+	
 	# open2 doesn't respect "use open ':utf8'"
 	binmode (IN, ':utf8'); 
 	binmode (OUT, ':utf8'); 
@@ -96,12 +89,18 @@ sub genmap ($) { #{{{
 
 	local $/=undef;
 	my $ret="<object data=\"".
-	        IkiWiki::abs2rel("$params{page}.png", IkiWiki::dirname($params{page})).
-	        "\" type=\"image/png\" usemap=\"#linkmap$mapnum\">\n".
-	         <IN>.
-	         "</object>";
+	       IkiWiki::abs2rel("$params{page}.png", IkiWiki::dirname($params{page})).
+	       "\" type=\"image/png\" usemap=\"#linkmap$mapnum\">\n".
+	        <IN>.
+	        "</object>";
 	close IN;
+	
 	waitpid $pid, 0;
+	$SIG{PIPE}="DEFAULT";
+	if ($sigpipe) {
+		return  "[[linkmap failed to run dot]]";
+	}
+
 	return $ret;
 } #}}}
 
diff --git a/IkiWiki/Plugin/rst.pm b/IkiWiki/Plugin/rst.pm
index 1fd13d1f5..afd60f668 100644
--- a/IkiWiki/Plugin/rst.pm
+++ b/IkiWiki/Plugin/rst.pm
@@ -43,21 +43,11 @@ sub htmlize (@) { #{{{
 	my %params=@_;
 	my $content=$params{content};
 
-	my $tries=10;
 	my $pid;
-	while (1) {
-		eval {
-			# Try to call python and run our command
-			$pid=open2(*IN, *OUT, "python", "-c",  $pyCmnd)
-				or return $content;
-		};
-		last unless $@;
-		$tries--;
-		if ($tries < 1) {
-			debug("failed to run python to convert rst: $@");
-			return $content;
-		}
-	}
+	my $sigpipe=0;
+	$SIG{PIPE}=sub { $sigpipe=1 };
+	$pid=open2(*IN, *OUT, "python", "-c",  $pyCmnd);
+	
 	# open2 doesn't respect "use open ':utf8'"
 	binmode (IN, ':utf8');
 	binmode (OUT, ':utf8');
@@ -70,6 +60,9 @@ sub htmlize (@) { #{{{
 	close IN;
 	waitpid $pid, 0;
 
+	return $content if $sigpipe;
+	$SIG{PIPE}="DEFAULT";
+
 	return $ret;
 } # }}}
 
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index a4f06fa64..7bc316543 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ ikiwiki (1.28) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
   * inline: Add ability to sort by page name, based on a patch from
     Benjamin A'Lee.
+  * Fix a forkbomb in various calls to IPC::Open2, which has a highly
+    braindead interface. Closes: #389383
 
- -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:06:39 -0400
+ -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:22:52 -0400
 
 ikiwiki (1.27) unstable; urgency=low