diff --git a/lib/src/child-writer/index.js b/lib/src/child-writer/index.js
index 44ed4ab0..3ae9d005 100644
--- a/lib/src/child-writer/index.js
+++ b/lib/src/child-writer/index.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
+const _ = require('lodash');
 const childProcess = require('child_process');
 const ipc = require('node-ipc');
 const rendererUtils = require('./renderer-utils');
@@ -75,20 +76,39 @@ exports.write = (image, drive, options) => {
   ipc.config.silent = true;
   ipc.serve();
 
-  ipc.server.on('error', (error) => {
-    emitter.emit('error', error);
-  });
+  const terminateServer = () => {
 
+    // Turns out we need to destroy all sockets for
+    // the server to actually close. Otherwise, it
+    // just stops receiving any further connections,
+    // but remains open if there are active ones.
+    _.each(ipc.server.sockets, (socket) => {
+      socket.destroy();
+    });
+
+    ipc.server.stop();
+  };
+
+  const emitError = (error) => {
+    terminateServer();
+    emitter.emit('error', error);
+  };
+
+  ipc.server.on('error', emitError);
   ipc.server.on('message', (data) => {
     let message;
     try {
       message = JSON.parse(data);
     } catch (error) {
-      return emitter.emit('error', new Error(`Invalid message: ${data}`));
+      error.description = `${data}, ${error.message}`;
+      error.message = 'Invalid message from the writer process';
+      return emitError(error);
     }
 
     if (!message.command || !message.data) {
-      return emitter.emit('error', new Error(`Invalid message: ${data}`));
+      const error = new Error('Invalid message from the writer process');
+      error.description = `No command or data: ${data}`;
+      return emitError(error);
     }
 
     // The error object is decomposed by the CLI for serialisation
@@ -99,7 +119,7 @@ exports.write = (image, drive, options) => {
       error.code = message.data.code;
       error.description = message.data.description;
       error.stack = message.data.stacktrace;
-      return emitter.emit('error', error);
+      return emitError(error);
     }
 
     emitter.emit(message.command, message.data);
@@ -116,20 +136,17 @@ exports.write = (image, drive, options) => {
     });
 
     child.stderr.on('data', (data) => {
-      emitter.emit('error', new Error(data.toString()));
+      emitError(new Error(data.toString()));
 
       // This function causes the `close` event to be emitted
       child.kill();
 
     });
 
-    child.on('error', (error) => {
-      ipc.server.stop();
-      emitter.emit('error', error);
-    });
+    child.on('error', emitError);
 
     child.on('close', (code) => {
-      ipc.server.stop();
+      terminateServer();
 
       if (code === EXIT_CODES.CANCELLED) {
         return emitter.emit('done', {
@@ -138,7 +155,7 @@ exports.write = (image, drive, options) => {
       }
 
       if (code !== EXIT_CODES.SUCCESS && code !== EXIT_CODES.VALIDATION_ERROR) {
-        return emitter.emit('error', new Error(`Child process exitted with error code: ${code}`));
+        return emitError(new Error(`Child process exited with error code: ${code}`));
       }
     });
   });