diff --git a/src/oumi/cli/launch.py b/src/oumi/cli/launch.py
index 588961109..e137b7346 100644
--- a/src/oumi/cli/launch.py
+++ b/src/oumi/cli/launch.py
@@ -13,11 +13,19 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 import io
+import threading
 import time
 from collections import defaultdict
-from multiprocessing.pool import Pool
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Annotated, Callable, Optional
+from typing import (
+    TYPE_CHECKING,
+    Annotated,
+    Any,
+    Callable,
+    Optional,
+    TypeVar,
+    cast,
+)
 
 import typer
 from rich.columns import Columns
@@ -34,6 +42,8 @@
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from oumi.core.launcher import BaseCluster, JobStatus
 
+T = TypeVar("T")
+
 
 def _get_working_dir(current: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
     """Prompts the user to select the working directory, if relevant."""
@@ -52,24 +62,39 @@ def _get_working_dir(current: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
 
 
 def _print_and_wait(
-    message: str, task: Callable[..., bool], asynchronous=True, **kwargs
-) -> None:
+    message: str, task: Callable[..., T], asynchronous: bool = True, **kwargs
+) -> T:
     """Prints a message with a loading spinner until the provided task is done."""
     with cli_utils.CONSOLE.status(message):
         if asynchronous:
-            with Pool(processes=1) as worker_pool:
-                task_done = False
-                while not task_done:
-                    worker_result = worker_pool.apply_async(task, kwds=kwargs)
-                    worker_result.wait()
-                    # Call get() to reraise any exceptions that occurred in the worker.
-                    task_done = worker_result.get()
+            result_container: dict[str, Any] = {}
+            exception_container: dict[str, Exception] = {}
+
+            def _worker():
+                try:
+                    result_container["value"] = task(**kwargs)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    exception_container["error"] = e
+
+            worker_thread = threading.Thread(target=_worker)
+            worker_thread.start()
+
+            while worker_thread.is_alive():
+                time.sleep(0.1)
+
+            worker_thread.join()
+
+            # Call get() to reraise any exceptions that occurred in the worker.
+            if "error" in exception_container:
+                raise exception_container["error"]
+            return cast(T, result_container.get("value"))
         else:
             # Synchronous tasks should be atomic and not block for a significant amount
             # of time. If a task is blocking, it should be run asynchronously.
             while not task(**kwargs):
                 sleep_duration = 0.1
                 time.sleep(sleep_duration)
+            return cast(T, None)
 
 
 def _is_job_done(id: str, cloud: str, cluster: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/src/oumi/infer.py b/src/oumi/infer.py
index 578ed009d..0e8ed0d21 100644
--- a/src/oumi/infer.py
+++ b/src/oumi/infer.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from typing import Optional
 
 from oumi.builders.inference_engines import build_inference_engine
+from oumi.cli.launch import _print_and_wait
 from oumi.core.configs import InferenceConfig, InferenceEngineType
 from oumi.core.inference import BaseInferenceEngine
 from oumi.core.types.conversation import (
@@ -55,15 +56,22 @@ def infer_interactive(
         except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):  # Triggered by Ctrl+D/Ctrl+C
             print("\nExiting...")
             return
-        model_response = infer(
-            config=config,
-            inputs=[
-                input_text,
-            ],
-            system_prompt=system_prompt,
-            input_image_bytes=input_image_bytes,
-            inference_engine=inference_engine,
+
+        def _task_to_run():
+            return infer(
+                config=config,
+                inputs=[input_text],
+                inference_engine=inference_engine,
+                input_image_bytes=input_image_bytes,
+                system_prompt=system_prompt,
+            )
+
+        model_response = _print_and_wait(
+            "Running inference...",
+            _task_to_run,
+            asynchronous=True,
         )
+
         for g in model_response:
             print("------------")
             print(repr(g))