diff --git a/lib/ropen/events/event_handler.rb b/lib/ropen/events/event_handler.rb
index 400e0b8..d978fcf 100644
--- a/lib/ropen/events/event_handler.rb
+++ b/lib/ropen/events/event_handler.rb
@@ -17,15 +17,25 @@ def register(event)
   
   def run(stdout, stderr)
     call_events(:start, @command)
-    handle_output(stdout, :stdout)
-    handle_output(stderr, :stderr)
+    def stdout.callback ; :stdout ; end
+    def stderr.callback ; :stderr ; end
+    streams = [stdout, stderr]
+    until streams.empty?
+      selected, _ = IO.select(streams, nil, nil, 0.1)
+      next if selected.nil? || selected.empty?
+      selected.each do |stream|
+        if stream.eof? then
+          streams.delete(stream)
+        else
+          data = stream.readpartial(1024)
+          call_events(stream.callback, @command, data)
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
   
-  # Blocks until the threads started by #run completes.
   def finish
-    @threads.each { |t| t.join }
     call_events(:finish, @command)
-    @threads.clear
   end
   
 private
@@ -36,15 +46,4 @@ def call_events(m, *args)
     end
   end
   
-  def handle_output(stream, callback_method)
-    thread = Thread.new do
-      until stream.eof?
-        data = stream.readpartial(1024) # TODO: smaller buffer?
-        call_events(callback_method, @command, data)
-      end
-    end
-    thread.abort_on_exception = true
-    @threads << thread
-  end
-  
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/stderr.txt b/spec/fixtures/stderr.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c26b689
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/stderr.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Blee
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/stdout.txt b/spec/fixtures/stdout.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ab4229
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/stdout.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Blah
+Blah
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/ropen/events/event_handler_spec.rb b/spec/ropen/events/event_handler_spec.rb
index d393d29..d30765b 100644
--- a/spec/ropen/events/event_handler_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/ropen/events/event_handler_spec.rb
@@ -12,31 +12,27 @@
     @handler = Ropen::Events::EventHandler.new(@command)
   end
   
-  def pretend_to_run_stream
-    @stdout.should_receive(:eof?).and_return(false, false, true)
-    @stdout.should_receive(:readpartial).with(an_instance_of(Numeric)).and_return("blah", "blee")
-    
-    @stderr.should_receive(:eof?).and_return(false, true)
-    @stderr.should_receive(:readpartial).with(an_instance_of(Numeric)).and_return("ERROR")
-    
-    @handler.register(@event)
-    @handler.run(@stdout, @stderr)
-    @handler.finish
-  end
-  
   it "should register events" do
     @handler.register(@event)
     @handler.register(@event)
     @handler.events.should == [@event, @event]
   end
   
-  it "should run events on the output of a stream" do
+  def pretend_to_run_stream
+    File.open(fixture("stdout.txt")) do |f1|
+      File.open(fixture("stderr.txt")) do |f2|
+        @handler.run(f1, f2)
+        @handler.finish
+      end
+    end
+  end
+  
+  it "should run events on the output of STDOUT and STDERR" do
+    @handler.register(@event)
     @event.should_receive(:start).with(@command).ordered
-    @event.should_receive(:stdout).with(@command, "blah").ordered
-    @event.should_receive(:stdout).with(@command, "blee").ordered
-    @event.should_receive(:stderr).with(@command, "ERROR").ordered
+    @event.should_receive(:stdout).with(@command, "Blah\nBlah").ordered
+    @event.should_receive(:stderr).with(@command, "Blee").ordered
     @event.should_receive(:finish).with(@command).ordered
-    
     pretend_to_run_stream
   end
   
@@ -44,8 +40,7 @@ def pretend_to_run_stream
     @event.should_receive(:start).any_number_of_times.and_throw(:halt)
     @event.should_receive(:stdout).any_number_of_times.and_throw(:halt)
     @event.should_receive(:stderr).any_number_of_times.and_throw(:halt)
-    @event.should_receive(:finish).any_number_of_times.and_throw(:halt)
-    
+    @event.should_receive(:finish).any_number_of_times.and_throw(:halt) 
     pretend_to_run_stream
   end
   
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 44592b9..c92a8b3 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
   def fixture(name)
-    File.join(".", "spec", "fixtures", "#{name}.rb")
+    filename = name.is_a?(Symbol) ? "#{name}.rb" : name
+    File.join(".", "spec", "fixtures", filename)
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file