diff --git a/src/solidlsp/ls_process.py b/src/solidlsp/ls_process.py
index 4f9b046c..c45279a8 100644
--- a/src/solidlsp/ls_process.py
+++ b/src/solidlsp/ls_process.py
@@ -532,9 +532,14 @@ class StdioLanguageServer(LanguageServerInterface):
             kwargs["preexec_fn"] = subprocess_util.set_pdeathsig_on_parent_exit
         # the language server is launched with binary (bytes) pipes; the cast is needed because the
         # presence of platform-specific **kwargs prevents ty from selecting the bytes Popen overload
+        # popen_preserving_pdeathsig (rather than a plain subprocess.Popen call) matters specifically
+        # when use_pdeathsig is set: the actual fork() has to happen on a thread that outlives the
+        # calling thread, which may itself be short-lived (e.g. LanguageServerManager's per-server
+        # StartLSThread) -- see its docstring for why a plain Popen call here would defeat the fix
+        # for #1490 in exactly that case.
         process = cast(
             "subprocess.Popen[bytes]",
-            subprocess.Popen(
+            subprocess_util.popen_preserving_pdeathsig(
                 cmd,
                 stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                 stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
diff --git a/src/solidlsp/util/subprocess_util.py b/src/solidlsp/util/subprocess_util.py
index 92a0ce53..18eb9237 100644
--- a/src/solidlsp/util/subprocess_util.py
+++ b/src/solidlsp/util/subprocess_util.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import logging
 import platform
+import queue
 import signal
 import subprocess
+import threading
+from collections.abc import Callable
 
 import oslex
 import psutil
@@ -32,11 +35,85 @@ def set_pdeathsig_on_parent_exit() -> None:
     program the shell forks as a child; see convert_shell_cmd's `exec` prefix, which makes the
     shell replace itself with the program instead of forking it, so the same PID (and therefore
     the same PDEATHSIG registration, which execve preserves) carries through.
+
+    Warning this function's caller (popen_preserving_pdeathsig below) exists to guard against: per
+    `man 2 prctl`, PR_SET_PDEATHSIG's "parent" is specifically the OS THREAD that called fork() to
+    create this process, not the parent process as a whole -- if that thread terminates while the
+    rest of the parent process (e.g. its main thread) keeps running, the death signal fires anyway.
     """
     if _libc is not None:
         _libc.prctl(_PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, signal.SIGTERM)
 
 
+class _PDeathSigSpawner:
+    """
+    Runs subprocess.Popen() calls that register PR_SET_PDEATHSIG on one dedicated, permanently
+    running daemon thread, so the "parent thread" the kernel ties the registration to is never a
+    short-lived one.
+
+    Why this exists: StdioLanguageServer._start() (the sole caller of popen_preserving_pdeathsig)
+    is very often invoked from a thread that is *intentionally* short-lived. For example,
+    LanguageServerManager.from_languages spawns one StartLSThread per language server; each one
+    calls language_server.start() (-> ._start(), where Popen() happens) and then simply returns,
+    terminating moments after Popen() itself returns. Because PR_SET_PDEATHSIG's delivery is tied
+    to that specific calling thread (see the warning on set_pdeathsig_on_parent_exit above), the
+    language server would then receive the parent-death signal and exit almost immediately, even
+    though Serena's process is still fully alive -- the exact CI-only regression this class fixes.
+    Funneling the fork()/exec() itself through one thread that never voluntarily exits (it only
+    ever terminates alongside the whole process, which is exactly the case PR_SET_PDEATHSIG is
+    meant to detect) decouples "which caller thread happened to invoke _start()" from "does the
+    language server survive."
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self._queue: queue.Queue[tuple[Callable[[], subprocess.Popen], "queue.Queue"]] = queue.Queue()
+        self._thread = threading.Thread(target=self._run, name="solidlsp-pdeathsig-spawner", daemon=True)
+        self._thread.start()
+
+    def _run(self) -> None:
+        while True:
+            func, result_queue = self._queue.get()
+            try:
+                result_queue.put((None, func()))
+            except BaseException as e:
+                result_queue.put((e, None))
+
+    def spawn(self, func: Callable[[], subprocess.Popen]) -> subprocess.Popen:
+        result_queue: queue.Queue = queue.Queue(maxsize=1)
+        self._queue.put((func, result_queue))
+        error, process = result_queue.get()
+        if error is not None:
+            raise error
+        return process
+
+
+class _SpawnerHolder:
+    instance: "_PDeathSigSpawner | None" = None
+
+
+_pdeathsig_spawner_holder = _SpawnerHolder()
+_pdeathsig_spawner_lock = threading.Lock()
+
+
+def popen_preserving_pdeathsig(cmd: str | list[str], **kwargs) -> subprocess.Popen:
+    """
+    subprocess.Popen wrapper for spawns that pass preexec_fn=set_pdeathsig_on_parent_exit.
+
+    On Linux, delegates the actual Popen() call to a single dedicated daemon thread (see
+    _PDeathSigSpawner) instead of performing it on the calling thread directly, so that the
+    PR_SET_PDEATHSIG registration set up by the preexec_fn remains tied to a thread that lives as
+    long as the process does. On any other platform (or if no preexec_fn is passed), this is
+    exactly equivalent to calling subprocess.Popen(cmd, **kwargs) directly.
+    """
+    if platform.system() != "Linux" or kwargs.get("preexec_fn") is None:
+        return subprocess.Popen(cmd, **kwargs)
+    with _pdeathsig_spawner_lock:
+        if _pdeathsig_spawner_holder.instance is None:
+            _pdeathsig_spawner_holder.instance = _PDeathSigSpawner()
+        spawner = _pdeathsig_spawner_holder.instance
+    return spawner.spawn(lambda: subprocess.Popen(cmd, **kwargs))
+
+
 def subprocess_kwargs() -> dict:
     """
     Returns a dictionary of keyword arguments for subprocess calls, adding platform-specific
diff --git a/test/solidlsp/test_pdeathsig.py b/test/solidlsp/test_pdeathsig.py
index 6b5a3090..662143c9 100644
--- a/test/solidlsp/test_pdeathsig.py
+++ b/test/solidlsp/test_pdeathsig.py
@@ -62,6 +62,78 @@ def _find_marked_processes(marker: str) -> list[psutil.Process]:
     return found
 
 
+_THREAD_DRIVER_SRC = textwrap.dedent(
+    """
+    import sys
+    import threading
+    import time
+    from solidlsp.ls_config import LanguageServerId
+    from solidlsp.ls_process import StdioLanguageServer
+    from solidlsp.lsp_protocol_handler.server import ProcessLaunchInfo
+
+    marker = sys.argv[1]
+
+    # Mirrors LanguageServerManager.from_languages's StartLSThread: the real code path spawns one
+    # Thread per language server, that thread calls language_server.start() (-> ._start(), where
+    # the process is actually launched), and the thread then simply returns -- terminating almost
+    # immediately after Popen() returns, not on the process's main thread.
+    def start_language_server():
+        ls = StdioLanguageServer(
+            process_launch_info=ProcessLaunchInfo(
+                cmd=[sys.executable, "-c", f"import time; time.sleep(300)  # {marker}"],
+                cwd="/tmp",
+            ),
+            ls_id=LanguageServerId.PYTHON,
+            determine_log_level=lambda _line: 0,
+        )
+        ls.start()
+
+    t = threading.Thread(target=start_language_server)
+    t.start()
+    t.join()  # the calling thread is gone from here on; the driver process itself lives on
+    print("READY", flush=True)
+    time.sleep(600)
+    """
+)
+
+
+def test_language_server_process_survives_a_short_lived_calling_thread() -> None:
+    """
+    PR_SET_PDEATHSIG (per prctl(2)) ties the registration to the specific calling *thread*, not
+    the process: if that thread terminates while the rest of the process lives on, the kernel
+    delivers the death signal right then, even though "Serena" (the process) never died. Starting
+    a language server is dispatched through TaskExecutor onto exactly such a short-lived thread, so
+    a naive preexec_fn registration kills the language server itself within milliseconds of a normal
+    startup, independent of any real SIGKILL scenario -- this is the CI-only regression this test
+    guards against.
+    """
+    marker = f"pdeathsig-thread-test-{uuid.uuid4().hex}"
+    driver = subprocess.Popen(
+        [sys.executable, "-c", _THREAD_DRIVER_SRC, marker],
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        text=True,
+    )
+    try:
+        ready_line = driver.stdout.readline()
+        assert ready_line.strip() == "READY", f"driver failed to start the language server: {driver.stderr.read()}"
+
+        time.sleep(2)
+        # The driver's own argv also contains `marker` (it's passed as sys.argv[1]), so exclude
+        # the driver's own pid or it would satisfy the assertion below on its own, regardless of
+        # whether the actual language server process (its child) is still alive.
+        survivors = [p for p in _find_marked_processes(marker) if p.pid != driver.pid]
+        assert survivors, (
+            "language server process died on its own even though the driver ('Serena') process "
+            "is still alive -- the calling thread's exit, not a real parent death, killed it"
+        )
+    finally:
+        for proc in _find_marked_processes(marker):
+            proc.kill()
+        if driver.poll() is None:
+            driver.kill()
+
+
 def test_language_server_process_dies_with_a_sigkilled_serena() -> None:
     marker = f"pdeathsig-test-{uuid.uuid4().hex}"
     driver = subprocess.Popen(