diff --git a/src/runtime/crash_unix_test.go b/src/runtime/crash_unix_test.go
index 182c84b639..fdb3267006 100644
--- a/src/runtime/crash_unix_test.go
+++ b/src/runtime/crash_unix_test.go
@@ -251,3 +251,16 @@ func TestSignalIgnoreSIGTRAP(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("want %s, got %s\n", want, output)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestSignalDuringExec(t *testing.T) {
+	switch runtime.GOOS {
+	case "darwin", "dragonfly", "freebsd", "linux", "netbsd", "openbsd":
+	default:
+		t.Skipf("skipping test on %s", runtime.GOOS)
+	}
+	output := runTestProg(t, "testprognet", "SignalDuringExec")
+	want := "OK\n"
+	if output != want {
+		t.Fatalf("want %s, got %s\n", want, output)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/runtime/os_nacl.go b/src/runtime/os_nacl.go
index ee632d9813..18e6ce6232 100644
--- a/src/runtime/os_nacl.go
+++ b/src/runtime/os_nacl.go
@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ func msigsave(mp *m) {
 func msigrestore(sigmask sigset) {
 }
 
+//go:nosplit
+//go:nowritebarrierrec
+func clearSignalHandlers() {
+}
+
 //go:nosplit
 func sigblock() {
 }
diff --git a/src/runtime/os_plan9.go b/src/runtime/os_plan9.go
index ba2d5c5525..45e881aa41 100644
--- a/src/runtime/os_plan9.go
+++ b/src/runtime/os_plan9.go
@@ -173,6 +173,11 @@ func msigsave(mp *m) {
 func msigrestore(sigmask sigset) {
 }
 
+//go:nosplit
+//go:nowritebarrierrec
+func clearSignalHandlers() {
+}
+
 func sigblock() {
 }
 
diff --git a/src/runtime/os_windows.go b/src/runtime/os_windows.go
index 3df3d28ed0..72b57ad7dc 100644
--- a/src/runtime/os_windows.go
+++ b/src/runtime/os_windows.go
@@ -656,6 +656,11 @@ func msigsave(mp *m) {
 func msigrestore(sigmask sigset) {
 }
 
+//go:nosplit
+//go:nowritebarrierrec
+func clearSignalHandlers() {
+}
+
 //go:nosplit
 func sigblock() {
 }
diff --git a/src/runtime/proc.go b/src/runtime/proc.go
index 9e53716992..f6e07f8ec0 100644
--- a/src/runtime/proc.go
+++ b/src/runtime/proc.go
@@ -2804,12 +2804,12 @@ func exitsyscall0(gp *g) {
 func beforefork() {
 	gp := getg().m.curg
 
-	// Fork can hang if preempted with signals frequently enough (see issue 5517).
-	// Ensure that we stay on the same M where we disable profiling.
+	// Block signals during a fork, so that the child does not run
+	// a signal handler before exec if a signal is sent to the process
+	// group. See issue #18600.
 	gp.m.locks++
-	if gp.m.profilehz != 0 {
-		setThreadCPUProfiler(0)
-	}
+	msigsave(gp.m)
+	sigblock()
 
 	// This function is called before fork in syscall package.
 	// Code between fork and exec must not allocate memory nor even try to grow stack.
@@ -2828,13 +2828,11 @@ func syscall_runtime_BeforeFork() {
 func afterfork() {
 	gp := getg().m.curg
 
-	// See the comment in beforefork.
+	// See the comments in beforefork.
 	gp.stackguard0 = gp.stack.lo + _StackGuard
 
-	hz := sched.profilehz
-	if hz != 0 {
-		setThreadCPUProfiler(hz)
-	}
+	msigrestore(gp.m.sigmask)
+
 	gp.m.locks--
 }
 
@@ -2845,6 +2843,20 @@ func syscall_runtime_AfterFork() {
 	systemstack(afterfork)
 }
 
+// Called from syscall package after fork in child.
+// It resets non-sigignored signals to the default handler, and
+// restores the signal mask in preparation for the exec.
+//go:linkname syscall_runtime_AfterForkInChild syscall.runtime_AfterForkInChild
+//go:nosplit
+//go:nowritebarrierrec
+func syscall_runtime_AfterForkInChild() {
+	clearSignalHandlers()
+
+	// When we are the child we are the only thread running,
+	// so we know that nothing else has changed gp.m.sigmask.
+	msigrestore(getg().m.sigmask)
+}
+
 // Allocate a new g, with a stack big enough for stacksize bytes.
 func malg(stacksize int32) *g {
 	newg := new(g)
diff --git a/src/runtime/signal_unix.go b/src/runtime/signal_unix.go
index e0ea724f97..539b165ba1 100644
--- a/src/runtime/signal_unix.go
+++ b/src/runtime/signal_unix.go
@@ -204,6 +204,20 @@ func sigignore(sig uint32) {
 	}
 }
 
+// clearSignalHandlers clears all signal handlers that are not ignored
+// back to the default. This is called by the child after a fork, so that
+// we can enable the signal mask for the exec without worrying about
+// running a signal handler in the child.
+//go:nosplit
+//go:nowritebarrierrec
+func clearSignalHandlers() {
+	for i := uint32(0); i < _NSIG; i++ {
+		if atomic.Load(&handlingSig[i]) != 0 {
+			setsig(i, _SIG_DFL)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // setProcessCPUProfiler is called when the profiling timer changes.
 // It is called with prof.lock held. hz is the new timer, and is 0 if
 // profiling is being disabled. Enable or disable the signal as
@@ -310,6 +324,11 @@ func sigtrampgo(sig uint32, info *siginfo, ctx unsafe.Pointer) {
 	}
 
 	setg(g.m.gsignal)
+
+	if g.stackguard0 == stackFork {
+		signalDuringFork(sig)
+	}
+
 	c := &sigctxt{info, ctx}
 	c.fixsigcode(sig)
 	sighandler(sig, info, ctx, g)
@@ -521,6 +540,16 @@ func sigNotOnStack(sig uint32) {
 	throw("non-Go code set up signal handler without SA_ONSTACK flag")
 }
 
+// signalDuringFork is called if we receive a signal while doing a fork.
+// We do not want signals at that time, as a signal sent to the process
+// group may be delivered to the child process, causing confusion.
+// This should never be called, because we block signals across the fork;
+// this function is just a safety check. See issue 18600 for background.
+func signalDuringFork(sig uint32) {
+	println("signal", sig, "received during fork")
+	throw("signal received during fork")
+}
+
 // This runs on a foreign stack, without an m or a g. No stack split.
 //go:nosplit
 //go:norace
diff --git a/src/runtime/testdata/testprognet/signalexec.go b/src/runtime/testdata/testprognet/signalexec.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4a988ef6c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/runtime/testdata/testprognet/signalexec.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Copyright 2017 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build darwin dragonfly freebsd linux netbsd openbsd
+
+// This is in testprognet instead of testprog because testprog
+// must not import anything (like net, but also like os/signal)
+// that kicks off background goroutines during init.
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"os/signal"
+	"sync"
+	"syscall"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func init() {
+	register("SignalDuringExec", SignalDuringExec)
+	register("Nop", Nop)
+}
+
+func SignalDuringExec() {
+	pgrp := syscall.Getpgrp()
+
+	const tries = 10
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	c := make(chan os.Signal, tries)
+	signal.Notify(c, syscall.SIGWINCH)
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		for range c {
+		}
+	}()
+
+	for i := 0; i < tries; i++ {
+		time.Sleep(time.Microsecond)
+		wg.Add(2)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			cmd := exec.Command(os.Args[0], "Nop")
+			cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
+			cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
+			if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+				fmt.Printf("Start failed: %v", err)
+			}
+		}()
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			syscall.Kill(-pgrp, syscall.SIGWINCH)
+		}()
+	}
+
+	signal.Stop(c)
+	close(c)
+	wg.Wait()
+
+	fmt.Println("OK")
+}
+
+func Nop() {
+	// This is just for SignalDuringExec.
+}
diff --git a/src/syscall/exec_bsd.go b/src/syscall/exec_bsd.go
index 730b63d1e5..17ca6f06cf 100644
--- a/src/syscall/exec_bsd.go
+++ b/src/syscall/exec_bsd.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ type SysProcAttr struct {
 // Implemented in runtime package.
 func runtime_BeforeFork()
 func runtime_AfterFork()
+func runtime_AfterForkInChild()
 
 // Fork, dup fd onto 0..len(fd), and exec(argv0, argvv, envv) in child.
 // If a dup or exec fails, write the errno error to pipe.
@@ -88,6 +89,8 @@ func forkAndExecInChild(argv0 *byte, argv, envv []*byte, chroot, dir *byte, attr
 
 	// Fork succeeded, now in child.
 
+	runtime_AfterForkInChild()
+
 	// Enable tracing if requested.
 	if sys.Ptrace {
 		_, _, err1 = RawSyscall(SYS_PTRACE, uintptr(PTRACE_TRACEME), 0, 0)
diff --git a/src/syscall/exec_linux.go b/src/syscall/exec_linux.go
index 5f53eaaa36..e631cd6470 100644
--- a/src/syscall/exec_linux.go
+++ b/src/syscall/exec_linux.go
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ var (
 // Implemented in runtime package.
 func runtime_BeforeFork()
 func runtime_AfterFork()
+func runtime_AfterForkInChild()
 
 // Fork, dup fd onto 0..len(fd), and exec(argv0, argvv, envv) in child.
 // If a dup or exec fails, write the errno error to pipe.
@@ -133,6 +134,8 @@ func forkAndExecInChild(argv0 *byte, argv, envv []*byte, chroot, dir *byte, attr
 
 	// Fork succeeded, now in child.
 
+	runtime_AfterForkInChild()
+
 	// Wait for User ID/Group ID mappings to be written.
 	if sys.UidMappings != nil || sys.GidMappings != nil {
 		if _, _, err1 = RawSyscall(SYS_CLOSE, uintptr(p[1]), 0, 0); err1 != 0 {
diff --git a/src/syscall/exec_solaris.go b/src/syscall/exec_solaris.go
index abeed56b13..448207ee1b 100644
--- a/src/syscall/exec_solaris.go
+++ b/src/syscall/exec_solaris.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type SysProcAttr struct {
 // Implemented in runtime package.
 func runtime_BeforeFork()
 func runtime_AfterFork()
+func runtime_AfterForkInChild()
 
 func chdir(path uintptr) (err Errno)
 func chroot1(path uintptr) (err Errno)
@@ -93,6 +94,8 @@ func forkAndExecInChild(argv0 *byte, argv, envv []*byte, chroot, dir *byte, attr
 
 	// Fork succeeded, now in child.
 
+	runtime_AfterForkInChild()
+
 	// Session ID
 	if sys.Setsid {
 		_, err1 = setsid()