diff --git a/src/sbbs3/jsexec.c b/src/sbbs3/jsexec.c
index 18da68e28a9ec3050dca4287c9267d314490cdbd..3a8b46e2af706dcfacf849a7a0d367441cb31415 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/jsexec.c
+++ b/src/sbbs3/jsexec.c
@@ -473,7 +473,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char** environ)
 	confp=stdout;
 	errfp=stderr;
 	nulfp=fopen(_PATH_DEVNULL,"w+");
-	statfp=stderr;
+	if(isatty(fileno(stderr)))
+		statfp=stderr;
+	else	/* if redirected, don't send status messages to stderr */
+		statfp=nulfp;
 
 	branch.limit=JAVASCRIPT_BRANCH_LIMIT;
 	branch.yield_freq=JAVASCRIPT_YIELD_FREQUENCY;