diff --git a/internal/jobobject/jobobject.go b/internal/jobobject/jobobject.go
index 2e5ad11684..52333986dd 100644
--- a/internal/jobobject/jobobject.go
+++ b/internal/jobobject/jobobject.go
@@ -522,7 +522,16 @@ func (job *JobObject) PromoteToSilo() error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	_, err := windows.SetInformationJobObject(
+	pids, err := job.Pids()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if len(pids) != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("job cannot have running processes to be promoted to a silo, found %d running processes", len(pids))
+	}
+
+	_, err = windows.SetInformationJobObject(
 		job.handle,
 		winapi.JobObjectCreateSilo,
 		0,