diff --git a/src/shell.js b/src/shell.js
index b7a99d27c..c3df30b45 100644
--- a/src/shell.js
+++ b/src/shell.js
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@
 const assert = require('assert'),
     BoxError = require('./boxerror.js'),
     child_process = require('child_process'),
-    constants = require('./constants.js'),
     debug = require('debug')('box:shell'),
-    fs = require('fs'),
     once = require('./once.js'),
     util = require('util');
 
@@ -101,7 +99,6 @@ function sudo(tag, args, options, callback) {
     let sudoArgs = [ '-S' ]; // -S makes sudo read stdin for password
     if (options.preserveEnv) sudoArgs.push('-E'); // -E preserves environment
     if (options.ipc) sudoArgs.push('--close-from=4'); // keep the ipc open. requires closefrom_override in sudoers file
-    if (constants.TEST) options.logStream = fs.createWriteStream('/dev/null'); // without this output is messed up, not sure why
 
     const cp = spawn(tag, SUDO, sudoArgs.concat(args), options, callback);
     cp.stdin.end();
diff --git a/src/tasks.js b/src/tasks.js
index a189fd35e..515fb94d8 100644
--- a/src/tasks.js
+++ b/src/tasks.js
@@ -45,8 +45,10 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 
 const assert = require('assert'),
     BoxError = require('./boxerror.js'),
+    constants = require('./constants.js'),
     database = require('./database.js'),
     debug = require('debug')('box:tasks'),
+    fs = require('fs'),
     logs = require('./logs.js'),
     path = require('path'),
     paths = require('./paths.js'),
@@ -167,7 +169,9 @@ function startTask(id, options, callback) {
 
     let killTimerId = null, timedOut = false;
 
-    gTasks[id] = shell.sudo('startTask', [ START_TASK_CMD, id, logFile, options.nice || 0, options.memoryLimit || 400 ], { preserveEnv: true }, async function (sudoError) {
+    const sudoOptions = { preserveEnv: true, logStream: null };
+    if (constants.TEST) sudoOptions.logStream = fs.createWriteStream('/dev/null'); // without this output is messed up, not sure why
+    gTasks[id] = shell.sudo('startTask', [ START_TASK_CMD, id, logFile, options.nice || 0, options.memoryLimit || 400 ], sudoOptions, async function (sudoError) {
         if (!gTasks[id]) return; // ignore task exit since we are shutting down. see stopAllTasks
 
         const code = sudoError ? sudoError.code : 0;