commit https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/36e0f7da9bc4a6ee8a7b17df503542a339e034c8 Author: Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org> Date: Sun May 8 13:21:12 2016 +0200 patch 7.4.1824 Problem: When a job is no longer referenced and does not have an exit callback the process may hang around in defunc state. (Nicola) Solution: Call job_status() if the job is running and won't get freed because it might still be useful.