lib/PublicInbox/IPC.pm | 3 ++-

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/IPC.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/IPC.pm
index 3873649b6bb5abcaad05309285eea05cc87c8f32..078aaa2c47e1adc3d0984e8eeed4e02a00557b12 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/IPC.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/IPC.pm
@@ -338,7 +338,6 @@ 	if ($pid == 0) {
 		srand($seed);
 		eval { PublicInbox::DS->Reset };
 		delete @$self{qw(-wq_s1 -wq_workers -wq_ppid)};
-		@$self{keys %$fields} = values(%$fields) if $fields;
 		$SIG{$_} = 'IGNORE' for (qw(PIPE));
 		$SIG{$_} = 'DEFAULT' for (qw(TTOU TTIN TERM QUIT INT CHLD));
 		local $0 = $self->{-wq_ident};
@@ -346,6 +345,8 @@ 		PublicInbox::DS::sig_setmask($oldset);
 		# ensure we properly exit even if warn() dies:
 		my $end = PublicInbox::OnDestroy->new($$, sub { exit(!!$@) });
 		eval {
+			$fields //= {};
+			local @$self{keys %$fields} = values(%$fields);
 			my $on_destroy = $self->ipc_atfork_child;
 			local %SIG = %SIG;
 			wq_worker_loop($self);