diff --git a/tests/test_constructor.py b/tests/test_constructor.py
index 227abff..58ed2b1 100644
--- a/tests/test_constructor.py
+++ b/tests/test_constructor.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ PEXPECT LICENSE
 '''
 import wexpect
 import unittest
+import time
 from . import PexpectTestCase
 
 class TestCaseConstructor(PexpectTestCase.PexpectTestCase):
@@ -28,9 +29,10 @@ class TestCaseConstructor(PexpectTestCase.PexpectTestCase):
         the same results for different styles of invoking __init__().
         This assumes that the root directory / is static during the test.
         '''
-        p1 = wexpect.spawn('uname -m -n -p -r -s -v')
+        p1 = wexpect.spawn('uname -m -n -p -r -s -v', timeout=5)
         p1.expect(wexpect.EOF)
-        p2 = wexpect.spawn('uname', ['-m', '-n', '-p', '-r', '-s', '-v'])
+        time.sleep(p1.delayafterterminate)
+        p2 = wexpect.spawn('uname', ['-m', '-n', '-p', '-r', '-s', '-v'], timeout=5)
         p2.expect(wexpect.EOF)
         self.assertEqual(p1.before, p2.before)
         self.assertEqual(str(p1).splitlines()[1:9], str(p2).splitlines()[1:9])
@@ -41,9 +43,12 @@ class TestCaseConstructor(PexpectTestCase.PexpectTestCase):
     def test_named_parameters (self):
         '''This tests that named parameters work.
         '''
-        p = wexpect.spawn ('ls',timeout=10)
-        p = wexpect.spawn (timeout=10, command='ls')
-        p = wexpect.spawn (args=[], command='ls')
+        p = wexpect.spawn('ls',timeout=10)
+        p.wait()
+        p = wexpect.spawn(timeout=10, command='ls')
+        p.wait()
+        p = wexpect.spawn(args=[], command='ls')
+        p.wait()
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/tests/test_destructor.py b/tests/test_destructor.py
index 6c62c08..46a4d81 100644
--- a/tests/test_destructor.py
+++ b/tests/test_destructor.py
@@ -32,35 +32,34 @@ class TestCaseDestructor(PexpectTestCase.PexpectTestCase):
             return 'SKIP'
         gc.collect()
         time.sleep(2)
-        p1 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p2 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p3 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p4 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        fd_t1 = (p1.child_fd,p2.child_fd,p3.child_fd,p4.child_fd)
+        p1 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4321)
+        p2 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4322)
+        p3 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4323)
+        p4 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4324)
         p1.expect(wexpect.EOF)
         p2.expect(wexpect.EOF)
         p3.expect(wexpect.EOF)
         p4.expect(wexpect.EOF)
-        p1.kill(9)
-        p2.kill(9)
-        p3.kill(9)
-        p4.kill(9)
+        p1.kill()
+        p2.kill()
+        p3.kill()
+        p4.kill()
         p1 = None
         p2 = None
         p3 = None
         p4 = None
         gc.collect()
         time.sleep(2) # Some platforms are slow at gc... Solaris!
+        
 
-        p1 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p2 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p3 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p4 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        fd_t2 = (p1.child_fd,p2.child_fd,p3.child_fd,p4.child_fd)
-        p1.kill(9)
-        p2.kill(9)
-        p3.kill(9)
-        p4.kill(9)
+        p1 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4321)
+        p2 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4322)
+        p3 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4323)
+        p4 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4324)
+        p1.kill()
+        p2.kill()
+        p3.kill()
+        p4.kill()
         del (p1)
         del (p2)
         del (p3)
@@ -68,13 +67,10 @@ class TestCaseDestructor(PexpectTestCase.PexpectTestCase):
         gc.collect()
         time.sleep(2)
 
-        p1 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p2 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p3 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        p4 = wexpect.spawn('"%s" hello_world.py' % self.PYTHONBIN)
-        fd_t3 = (p1.child_fd,p2.child_fd,p3.child_fd,p4.child_fd)
-
-        assert (fd_t1 == fd_t2 == fd_t3), "pty file descriptors not properly garbage collected (fd_t1,fd_t2,fd_t3)=(%s,%s,%s)" % (str(fd_t1),str(fd_t2),str(fd_t3))
+        p1 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4321)
+        p2 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4322)
+        p3 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4323)
+        p4 = wexpect.spawn('ls', port=4324)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/wexpect/legacy_wexpect.py b/wexpect/legacy_wexpect.py
index a318a46..b0deffb 100644
--- a/wexpect/legacy_wexpect.py
+++ b/wexpect/legacy_wexpect.py
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ def run (command, timeout=-1, withexitstatus=False, events=None, extra_args=None
         return child_result
 
 def spawn(command, args=[], timeout=30, maxread=2000, searchwindowsize=None, logfile=None, cwd=None,
-    env=None, codepage=None, echo=True):
+    env=None, codepage=None, echo=True, **kwargs):
     """This is the most essential function. The command parameter may be a string that
     includes a command and any arguments to the command. For example::
 
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ class spawn_windows ():
                 
         return False
 
-    def kill(self, sig):
+    def kill(self, sig=signal.SIGTERM):
         """Sig == sigint for ctrl-c otherwise the child is terminated."""
         
         if not self.isalive():