diff --git a/src/optionals/process.c b/src/optionals/process.c
index ec7de1f5..75be624f 100644
--- a/src/optionals/process.c
+++ b/src/optionals/process.c
@@ -201,13 +201,6 @@ static Value executeReturnOutput(DictuVM* vm, ObjList* argList) {
 
     close(fd[1]);
 
-    int status = 0;
-    waitpid(pid, &status, 0);
-
-    if (WIFEXITED(status) && (status = WEXITSTATUS(status)) != 0) {
-        ERROR_RESULT;
-    }
-
     int size = 1024;
     char* output = ALLOCATE(vm, char, size);
     char buffer[1024];
@@ -215,7 +208,7 @@ static Value executeReturnOutput(DictuVM* vm, ObjList* argList) {
     int numRead;
 
     while ((numRead = read(fd[0], buffer, 1024)) != 0) {
-        if (total >= size) {
+        if (total + numRead >= size) {
             output = GROW_ARRAY(vm, output, char, size, size * 3);
             size *= 3;
         }
@@ -224,6 +217,15 @@ static Value executeReturnOutput(DictuVM* vm, ObjList* argList) {
         total += numRead;
     }
 
+    close(fd[0]);
+
+    int status = 0;
+    waitpid(pid, &status, 0);
+
+    if (WIFEXITED(status) && (status = WEXITSTATUS(status)) != 0) {
+        ERROR_RESULT;
+    }
+
     output = SHRINK_ARRAY(vm, output, char, size, total + 1);
     output[total] = '\0';