diff --git a/packages/php-wasm/node/src/test/php-worker.spec.ts b/packages/php-wasm/node/src/test/php-worker.spec.ts
index b287b6a67e..69e18e9913 100644
--- a/packages/php-wasm/node/src/test/php-worker.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/php-wasm/node/src/test/php-worker.spec.ts
@@ -50,4 +50,15 @@ describe('PHP Worker', () => {
 			}
 		}
 	);
+
+	it('addEventListener() should add a listener for all PHP instances spawned by the worker', async () => {
+		const received: any[] = [];
+		worker.addEventListener('runtime.beforeExit', (event) => {
+			received.push(event);
+		});
+		await worker.run({
+			code: `<?php echo getcwd();`,
+		});
+		expect(received).toHaveLength(1);
+	});
 });
diff --git a/packages/php-wasm/universal/src/lib/php-worker.ts b/packages/php-wasm/universal/src/lib/php-worker.ts
index 65dac7d7b3..317e65cd69 100644
--- a/packages/php-wasm/universal/src/lib/php-worker.ts
+++ b/packages/php-wasm/universal/src/lib/php-worker.ts
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ export class PHPWorker implements LimitedPHPApi, AsyncDisposable {
 		if (this.chroot !== null) {
 			php.chdir(this.chroot);
 		}
+		this.registerWorkerListeners(php);
 		return { php, reap };
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v1/worker-thread-v1.ts b/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v1/worker-thread-v1.ts
index f6cca4c78a..72eea9d7be 100644
--- a/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v1/worker-thread-v1.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v1/worker-thread-v1.ts
@@ -279,7 +279,6 @@ export class PlaygroundCliBlueprintV1Worker extends PHPWorker {
 					});
 				},
 				onPHPInstanceCreated: async (php) => {
-					this.registerWorkerListeners(php);
 					await mountResources(php, mountsBeforeWpInstall);
 					await mountResources(php, mountsAfterWpInstall);
 				},
diff --git a/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v2/worker-thread-v2.ts b/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v2/worker-thread-v2.ts
index 8c6e0a3db7..1e9b81ab2d 100644
--- a/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v2/worker-thread-v2.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/cli/src/blueprints-v2/worker-thread-v2.ts
@@ -220,7 +220,6 @@ export class PlaygroundCliBlueprintV2Worker extends PHPWorker {
 				'openssl.cafile': '/internal/shared/ca-bundle.crt',
 			},
 			onPHPInstanceCreated: async (php: PHP) => {
-				this.registerWorkerListeners(php);
 				await mountResources(php, args['mount-before-install'] || []);
 				if (this.blueprintTargetResolved) {
 					await mountResources(php, args.mount || []);
diff --git a/packages/playground/remote/src/lib/playground-worker-endpoint.ts b/packages/playground/remote/src/lib/playground-worker-endpoint.ts
index 41ca3133ab..6a5282662d 100644
--- a/packages/playground/remote/src/lib/playground-worker-endpoint.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/remote/src/lib/playground-worker-endpoint.ts
@@ -244,7 +244,6 @@ export abstract class PlaygroundWorkerEndpoint extends PHPWorker {
 				if (withNetworking) {
 					await this.networkTransport!.setupMessageHandler(php);
 				}
-				this.registerWorkerListeners(php);
 			},
 			spawnHandler: sandboxedSpawnHandlerFactory,
 			sapiName,