diff --git a/revokefs/main.c b/revokefs/main.c
index 401330d7..f0808f15 100644
--- a/revokefs/main.c
+++ b/revokefs/main.c
@@ -444,6 +444,7 @@ usage (const char *progname)
            "   -h  --help          print help\n"
            "   --socket=fd         Pass in the socket fd\n"
            "   --backend           Run the backend instead of fuse\n"
+           "   --exit-with-fd=fd   With --backend, exit when the given file descriptor is closed\n"
            "\n", progname);
 }
 
@@ -478,6 +479,7 @@ revokefs_opt_proc (void *data,
 
 struct revokefs_config {
   int socket_fd;
+  int exit_with_fd;
   int backend;
 };
 
@@ -485,6 +487,7 @@ struct revokefs_config {
 
 static struct fuse_opt revokefs_opts[] = {
   REVOKEFS_OPT ("--socket=%i", socket_fd, -1),
+  REVOKEFS_OPT ("--exit-with-fd=%i", exit_with_fd, -1),
   REVOKEFS_OPT ("--backend", backend, 1),
 
   FUSE_OPT_KEY ("-h", KEY_HELP),
@@ -497,7 +500,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
   struct fuse_args args = FUSE_ARGS_INIT (argc, argv);
   int res;
-  struct revokefs_config conf = { -1 };
+  struct revokefs_config conf = { -1, -1 };
 
   res = fuse_opt_parse (&args, &conf, revokefs_opts, revokefs_opt_proc);
   if (res != 0)
@@ -529,7 +532,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
           exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
         }
 
-      do_writer (basefd, conf.socket_fd);
+      do_writer (basefd, conf.socket_fd, conf.exit_with_fd);
       exit (0);
     }
 
@@ -559,7 +562,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
         {
           /* writer process */
           close (sockets[0]);
-          do_writer (basefd, sockets[1]);
+          do_writer (basefd, sockets[1], -1);
           exit (0);
         }
 
diff --git a/revokefs/writer.c b/revokefs/writer.c
index fc31bae7..2a297d0b 100644
--- a/revokefs/writer.c
+++ b/revokefs/writer.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include <sys/xattr.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <poll.h>
 #include <fuse.h>
 
 #include <glib.h>
@@ -759,7 +760,8 @@ request_access (int writer_socket, const char *path, int mode)
 
 void
 do_writer (int basefd_arg,
-           int fuse_socket)
+           int fuse_socket,
+           int exit_with_fd)
 {
   guchar request_buffer[MAX_REQUEST_SIZE];
   RevokefsRequest *request = (RevokefsRequest *)&request_buffer;
@@ -773,6 +775,27 @@ do_writer (int basefd_arg,
     {
       ssize_t data_size, size;
       ssize_t response_data_size, response_size, written_size;
+      int res;
+      struct pollfd pollfds[2] =  {
+         {fuse_socket, POLLIN, 0 },
+         {exit_with_fd, POLLIN, 0 },
+      };
+
+      res = poll(pollfds, exit_with_fd >= 0 ? 2 : 1, -1);
+      if (res < 0)
+        {
+          perror ("Got error polling sockets: ");
+          exit (1);
+        }
+
+      if (exit_with_fd >= 0 && (pollfds[1].revents & (POLLERR|POLLHUP)) != 0)
+        {
+          g_printerr ("Received EOF on exit-with-fd argument");
+          exit (1);
+        }
+
+      if (pollfds[0].revents & POLLIN == 0)
+        continue;
 
       size = TEMP_FAILURE_RETRY (read (fuse_socket, request_buffer, sizeof (request_buffer)));
       if (size == -1)
diff --git a/revokefs/writer.h b/revokefs/writer.h
index 46a0be17..0131eaa4 100644
--- a/revokefs/writer.h
+++ b/revokefs/writer.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ int request_fsync (int writer_socket, int fd);
 int request_close (int writer_socket, int fd);
 int request_access (int writer_socket, const char *path, int mode);
 
-void  do_writer (int basefd, int socket);
+void  do_writer (int basefd, int socket, int exit_with_fd);
 
 
 typedef enum {
diff --git a/system-helper/flatpak-system-helper.c b/system-helper/flatpak-system-helper.c
index 6cc2ac3e..f7a81e28 100644
--- a/system-helper/flatpak-system-helper.c
+++ b/system-helper/flatpak-system-helper.c
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ typedef struct
   uid_t uid;                  /* uid of the client initiating the pull */
 
   gint client_socket;         /* fd that is send back to the client for spawning revoke-fuse */
+  gint backend_exit_socket;   /* write end of a pipe which helps terminating revokefs backend if
+                                 system helper exits abruptly */
 
   gchar *src_dir;             /* source directory containing the actual child repo */
   gchar *unique_name;
@@ -131,6 +133,7 @@ ongoing_pull_free (OngoingPull *pull)
   g_clear_pointer (&pull->src_dir, g_free);
   g_clear_pointer (&pull->unique_name, g_free);
   close (pull->client_socket);
+  close (pull->backend_exit_socket);
 
   g_slice_free (OngoingPull, pull);
 }
@@ -1497,7 +1500,7 @@ ongoing_pull_new (FlatpakSystemHelper   *object,
   GDBusConnection *connection = g_dbus_method_invocation_get_connection (invocation);
   g_autoptr(OngoingPull) pull = NULL;
   g_autoptr(GSubprocessLauncher) launcher = NULL;
-  int sockets[2];
+  int sockets[2], exit_sockets[2];
 
   pull = g_slice_new0 (OngoingPull);
   pull->object = object;
@@ -1521,17 +1524,30 @@ ongoing_pull_new (FlatpakSystemHelper   *object,
       return NULL;
     }
 
+  if (pipe2 (exit_sockets, O_CLOEXEC) == -1)
+    {
+      glnx_throw_errno_prefix (error, "Failed to create a pipe");
+      close (sockets[0]);
+      close (sockets[1]);
+      return NULL;
+    }
+
   launcher = g_subprocess_launcher_new (G_SUBPROCESS_FLAGS_NONE);
   g_subprocess_launcher_set_child_setup (launcher, revokefs_fuse_backend_child_setup, passwd, NULL);
   g_subprocess_launcher_take_fd (launcher, sockets[0], 3);
   fcntl (sockets[1], F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC);
   pull->client_socket = sockets[1];
 
+  g_subprocess_launcher_take_fd (launcher, exit_sockets[0], 4);
+  pull->backend_exit_socket = exit_sockets[1];
+
   pull->revokefs_backend = g_subprocess_launcher_spawn (launcher,
                                                         error,
                                                         "revokefs-fuse",
                                                         "--backend",
-                                                        "--socket=3", src, NULL);
+                                                        "--socket=3",
+                                                        "--exit-with-fd=4",
+                                                        src, NULL);
   if (pull->revokefs_backend == NULL)
     return NULL;