diff --git a/test/parallel/test-vm-sigint.js b/test/parallel/test-vm-sigint.js
index 2488b0d1c028f6..15d61d3232871a 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-vm-sigint.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-vm-sigint.js
@@ -25,14 +25,14 @@ if (process.argv[2] === 'child') {
 }
 
 process.env.REPL_TEST_PPID = process.pid;
-const child = spawn(process.execPath, [ __filename, 'child' ], {
-  stdio: [null, 'pipe', 'inherit']
-});
-
 process.on('SIGUSR2', common.mustCall(() => {
   process.kill(child.pid, 'SIGINT');
 }));
 
+const child = spawn(process.execPath, [ __filename, 'child' ], {
+  stdio: [null, 'pipe', 'inherit']
+});
+
 child.on('close', common.mustCall((code, signal) => {
   assert.strictEqual(signal, null);
   assert.strictEqual(code, 0);