diff --git a/orte/mca/iof/hnp/iof_hnp_read.c b/orte/mca/iof/hnp/iof_hnp_read.c
index 98adc25479..eb226f0d4e 100644
--- a/orte/mca/iof/hnp/iof_hnp_read.c
+++ b/orte/mca/iof/hnp/iof_hnp_read.c
@@ -193,13 +193,15 @@ void orte_iof_hnp_read_local_handler(int fd, short event, void *cbdata)
                          (ORTE_IOF_STDOUT & rev->tag) ? "stdout" : ((ORTE_IOF_STDERR & rev->tag) ? "stderr" : "stddiag"),
                          ORTE_NAME_PRINT(&rev->name)));
     
-   if ( (0 != numbytes) && (ORTE_IOF_STDOUT & rev->tag) ) {
-        orte_iof_base_write_output(&rev->name, rev->tag, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stdout);
-    } else {
-        orte_iof_base_write_output(&rev->name, rev->tag, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stderr);
-
+    if (0 != numbytes) {
+        if (ORTE_IOF_STDOUT & rev->tag) {
+            orte_iof_base_write_output(&rev->name, rev->tag, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stdout);
+        } else {
+            orte_iof_base_write_output(&rev->name, rev->tag, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stderr);
+            
+        }
     }
-
+    
 CLEAN_RETURN:
     /* if we read 0 bytes from the stdout/err/diag, there is
      * nothing to output - close these file descriptors,
diff --git a/orte/mca/iof/tool/iof_tool_receive.c b/orte/mca/iof/tool/iof_tool_receive.c
index 5c53ec8d90..6f64b0dcd0 100644
--- a/orte/mca/iof/tool/iof_tool_receive.c
+++ b/orte/mca/iof/tool/iof_tool_receive.c
@@ -90,11 +90,16 @@ static void process_msg(int fd, short event, void *cbdata)
                          ORTE_NAME_PRINT(ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME), numbytes,
                          ORTE_NAME_PRINT(&origin)));
     
-    /* write the output locally */
-    if (ORTE_IOF_STDOUT & stream) {
-        orte_iof_base_write_output(&origin, stream, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stdout);
-    } else {
-        orte_iof_base_write_output(&origin, stream, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stderr);
+    /* if numbytes is zero, it means that the channel was closed on the far end - for
+     * now, we just ignore this condition
+     */
+    if (0 < numbytes) {
+        /* write the output locally */
+        if (ORTE_IOF_STDOUT & stream) {
+            orte_iof_base_write_output(&origin, stream, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stdout);
+        } else {
+            orte_iof_base_write_output(&origin, stream, data, numbytes, &orte_iof_base.iof_write_stderr);
+        }
     }
     
 CLEAN_RETURN: