diff --git a/docs/examples/subprocess.md b/docs/examples/subprocess.md
index 3f1297cc00e631..e5956e1af52f5c 100644
--- a/docs/examples/subprocess.md
+++ b/docs/examples/subprocess.md
@@ -70,11 +70,13 @@ const p = Deno.run({
 
 const { code } = await p.status();
 
+// Reading the outputs closes their pipes
+const rawOutput = await p.output();
+const rawError = await p.stderrOutput();
+
 if (code === 0) {
-  const rawOutput = await p.output();
   await Deno.stdout.write(rawOutput);
 } else {
-  const rawError = await p.stderrOutput();
   const errorString = new TextDecoder().decode(rawError);
   console.log(errorString);
 }