diff --git a/esrally/mechanic/launcher.py b/esrally/mechanic/launcher.py
index 29c3209bb..2c6266f6d 100644
--- a/esrally/mechanic/launcher.py
+++ b/esrally/mechanic/launcher.py
@@ -18,13 +18,12 @@
 import os
 import shlex
 import subprocess
-from textwrap import indent
 
 import psutil
 
 from esrally import exceptions, telemetry, time
 from esrally.mechanic import cluster, java_resolver
-from esrally.utils import console, io, opts, process
+from esrally.utils import io, opts, process
 
 
 class DockerLauncher:
@@ -200,9 +199,13 @@ def _set_env(self, env, k, v, separator=" ", prepend=False):
     @staticmethod
     def _run_subprocess(command_line, env):
         command_line_args = shlex.split(command_line)
-        subprocess.run(
-            command_line_args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, env=env, start_new_session=True, check=True, text=True
-        )
+
+        with subprocess.Popen(
+            command_line_args, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, env=env, start_new_session=True
+        ) as command_line_process:
+            # wait for it to finish
+            command_line_process.wait()
+        return command_line_process.returncode
 
     @staticmethod
     def _start_process(binary_path, env):
@@ -212,11 +215,11 @@ def _start_process(binary_path, env):
         cmd = [io.escape_path(os.path.join(".", "bin", "elasticsearch"))]
         pid_path = io.escape_path(os.path.join(".", "pid"))
         cmd.extend(["-d", "-p", pid_path])
-        try:
-            ProcessLauncher._run_subprocess(command_line=" ".join(cmd), env=env)
-        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
-            console.error("Daemon startup failed with exit code [%s]. STDERR:\n\n%s\n" % (e.returncode, indent(e.stderr, "\t")))
-            raise e
+        ret = ProcessLauncher._run_subprocess(command_line=" ".join(cmd), env=env)
+        if ret != 0:
+            msg = "Daemon startup failed with exit code [{}]".format(ret)
+            logging.error(msg)
+            raise exceptions.LaunchError(msg)
 
         return wait_for_pidfile(pid_path)
 
diff --git a/tests/driver/runner_test.py b/tests/driver/runner_test.py
index 476a3dc35..87db65446 100644
--- a/tests/driver/runner_test.py
+++ b/tests/driver/runner_test.py
@@ -6215,7 +6215,7 @@ async def test_adds_request_timings(self):
         assert len(timings) == 3
 
         assert timings[0]["operation"] == "initial-call"
-        assert timings[0]["service_time"] == pytest.approx(0.1, abs=0.15)
+        assert timings[0]["service_time"] == pytest.approx(0.1, abs=0.1)
 
         assert timings[1]["operation"] == "stream-a"
         assert timings[1]["service_time"] == pytest.approx(0.2, abs=0.1)
diff --git a/tests/mechanic/launcher_test.py b/tests/mechanic/launcher_test.py
index 8718c56e7..49969177e 100644
--- a/tests/mechanic/launcher_test.py
+++ b/tests/mechanic/launcher_test.py
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         # mocking them as their optional functionality is disabled.
         self.returncode = 1
         self.stdout = io.StringIO()
-        self.args = None
 
     def communicate(self, input=None, timeout=None):
         return [b"", b""]