diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index f3c4fac..f532de2 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -789,6 +789,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[], char *envp[])
 			{
 				opts.tty = 1;
 				opts.ttyopts.ptmx = tty_default_ptmx;
+				opts.ttyopts.drain = true;
 
 				/* 128 is enough to support everything */
 				struct kvlist kvlist[128];
diff --git a/man/bst.1.scd b/man/bst.1.scd
index 6195402..f25f1b2 100644
--- a/man/bst.1.scd
+++ b/man/bst.1.scd
@@ -371,6 +371,9 @@ spacetime process.
 	- *ptmx*=<path>: use the specified ptmx device (relative to the target root)
 	  to allocated the pty.
 
+	- *drain*: whether to drain the tty on stdin closure.  The default is true,
+	  so prepend a _'-'_ to this option to prevent draining.
+
 	By default bst inherits the parent's terminal device (or lack thereof).  Use
 	the --tty option to allocate a new pty for the child process.
 
diff --git a/tty.c b/tty.c
index 2b55efd..61fce81 100644
--- a/tty.c
+++ b/tty.c
@@ -362,9 +362,7 @@ void tty_parent_setup(struct tty_opts *opts, int epollfd, int socket)
 
 	struct termios tios;
 
-	if (opts->drain != NULL) {
-		info.drain = *opts->drain;
-	}
+	info.drain = opts->drain;
 
 	info.stdinIsatty = tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &tios) == 0;
 	if (!info.stdinIsatty && errno != ENOTTY) {
@@ -669,8 +667,7 @@ static void parse_drain(struct tty_opts *opts, const char *key, const char *val,
 	if (val != NULL) {
 		errx(2, "tty option '%s' must have no value", key);
 	}
-	opts->drain = malloc(sizeof(bool));
-	*opts->drain = (key[0] != '-');
+	opts->drain = (key[0] != '-');
 }
 
 static int cmp_flag(const void *key, const void *elem)
diff --git a/tty.h b/tty.h
index c645f50..fc0fc35 100644
--- a/tty.h
+++ b/tty.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ struct tty_opts {
 	const char *ptmx;
 	struct termios termios;
 	struct termios neg_termios;
-	bool *drain;
+	bool drain;
 };
 
 extern const char *tty_default_ptmx;