diff --git a/test/ruby/test_thread.rb b/test/ruby/test_thread.rb
index 6f7d1280bd..f7b33c30ec 100644
--- a/test/ruby/test_thread.rb
+++ b/test/ruby/test_thread.rb
@@ -689,20 +689,23 @@ class TestThreadGroup < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_thread_timer_and_interrupt
     bug5757 = '[ruby-dev:44985]'
     t0 = Time.now.to_f
-    pid = spawn(EnvUtil.rubybin, '-e', 'r,=IO.pipe;r.read')
-    sleep 1;
-    Process.kill(:SIGINT, pid)
-    Process.wait(pid)
-    s = $?
-    if /mswin|mingw/ =~ RUBY_PLATFORM
-      # status of signal is not supported on Windows
-      assert_equal(pid, s.pid)
-    else
-      assert_equal([false, true, false],
-                   [s.exited?, s.signaled?, s.stopped?],
-                   "[s.exited?, s.signaled?, s.stopped?]")
+    pid = nil
+    cmd = 'r,=IO.pipe; Thread.start {Thread.pass until Thread.main.stop?; puts; STDOUT.flush}; r.read'
+    s, err = EnvUtil.invoke_ruby(['-e', cmd], "", true, true) do |in_p, out_p, err_p, cpid|
+      out_p.gets
+      pid = cpid
+      Process.kill(:SIGINT, pid)
+      Process.wait(pid)
+      [$?, err_p.read]
     end
     t1 = Time.now.to_f
+    assert_equal(pid, s.pid)
+    unless /mswin|mingw/ =~ RUBY_PLATFORM
+      # status of signal is not supported on Windows
+      assert_equal([false, true, false, Signal.list["INT"]],
+                   [s.exited?, s.signaled?, s.stopped?, s.termsig],
+                   "[s.exited?, s.signaled?, s.stopped?, s.termsig]")
+    end
     assert_in_delta(t1 - t0, 1, 1)
   end
 end