diff --git a/lib/bunyan.js b/lib/bunyan.js
index f4b5c76e..696cdf88 100644
--- a/lib/bunyan.js
+++ b/lib/bunyan.js
@@ -1016,6 +1016,9 @@ RotatingFileStream.prototype._setupNextRot = function () {
     this.timeout = setTimeout(
         function () { self.rotate(); },
         this.rotAt - Date.now());
+    if (typeof this.timeout.unref === 'function') {
+      this.timeout.unref();
+    }
 }
 
 RotatingFileStream.prototype._nextRotTime = function _nextRotTime(first) {