diff --git a/src/main/clojure/hawk/core.clj b/src/main/clojure/hawk/core.clj
index 5d2b6d3..b90e6bd 100644
--- a/src/main/clojure/hawk/core.clj
+++ b/src/main/clojure/hawk/core.clj
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@
                      (empty?
                        (mapv handler* (watcher/take! watcher)))
                      (recur))))
+               (.setDaemon true)
                .start)
      :watcher watcher}))