diff --git a/lix/libfetchers/git.cc b/lix/libfetchers/git.cc
index f8de4c37a..fc5f9af84 100644
--- a/lix/libfetchers/git.cc
+++ b/lix/libfetchers/git.cc
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 #include "lix/libfetchers/fetch-settings.hh"
 
+#include <optional>
 #include <regex>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
@@ -70,15 +71,13 @@ Path getCachePath(std::string_view key)
 //   ...
 static kj::Promise<Result<std::optional<std::string>>> readHead(const Path & path)
 try {
-    auto [status, output] = TRY_AWAIT(runProgram(RunOptions{
-        .program = "git",
+    auto output = TRY_AWAIT(runProgram(
+        "git",
+        true,
         // FIXME: use 'HEAD' to avoid returning all refs
-        .args = {"ls-remote", "--symref", path},
-        .isInteractive = true,
-    }));
-    if (status != 0) {
-        co_return std::nullopt;
-    }
+        {"ls-remote", "--symref", path},
+        true
+    ));
 
     std::string_view line = output;
     line = line.substr(0, line.find("\n"));
@@ -94,6 +93,8 @@ try {
         co_return parseResult->target;
     }
     co_return std::nullopt;
+} catch (ExecError &) {
+    co_return std::nullopt;
 } catch (...) {
     co_return result::current_exception();
 }
diff --git a/lix/libutil/processes.cc b/lix/libutil/processes.cc
index 6a833d3ad..0eea7c3c5 100644
--- a/lix/libutil/processes.cc
+++ b/lix/libutil/processes.cc
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #include "lix/libutil/strings.hh"
 #include "lix/libutil/serialise.hh"
 #include "lix/libutil/signals.hh"
+#include "manually-drop.hh"
+#include "sync.hh"
 
 #include <cerrno>
 #include <cstdlib>
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <utility>
 
 #ifdef __APPLE__
 # include <sys/syscall.h>
@@ -233,8 +236,27 @@ Pid startProcess(std::function<void()> fun, const ProcessOptions & options)
 kj::Promise<Result<std::string>>
 runProgram(Path program, bool searchPath, const Strings args, bool isInteractive)
 try {
+    // allow only one interactive program per unit time so they don't mess with each other.
+    //
+    // see https://git.lix.systems/lix-project/lix/issues/702 for why this is ManuallyDrop.
+    static ManuallyDrop<Sync<int, AsyncMutex>> interactiveMutex{std::in_place, 0};
+
+    std::optional<Sync<int, AsyncMutex>::Lock> interactiveLock;
+    KJ_DEFER({
+        if (interactiveLock) {
+            logger->resume();
+        }
+    });
+
+    if (isInteractive) {
+        interactiveLock = co_await interactiveMutex->lock();
+        logger->pause();
+    }
+
     auto res = TRY_AWAIT(runProgram(RunOptions{
-        .program = program, .searchPath = searchPath, .args = args, .isInteractive = isInteractive
+        .program = program,
+        .searchPath = searchPath,
+        .args = args,
     }));
 
     if (!statusOk(res.first)) {
@@ -324,16 +346,6 @@ RunningProgram runProgram2(const RunOptions & options)
         .dieWithParent = options.dieWithParent,
     };
 
-    std::optional<Finally<std::function<void()>>> resumeLoggerDefer;
-    if (options.isInteractive) {
-        logger->pause();
-        resumeLoggerDefer.emplace(
-            []() {
-                logger->resume();
-            }
-        );
-    }
-
     printMsg(lvlChatty, "running command: %s", concatMapStringsSep(" ", options.args, shellEscape));
 
     /* Fork. */
diff --git a/lix/libutil/processes.hh b/lix/libutil/processes.hh
index f3a193b76..97e9c25b9 100644
--- a/lix/libutil/processes.hh
+++ b/lix/libutil/processes.hh
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ struct RunOptions
     std::optional<std::map<std::string, std::string>> environment = {};
     bool dieWithParent = true;
     bool captureStdout = false;
-    bool isInteractive = false;
     std::vector<Redirection> redirections;
 #if __linux__
     std::set<long> caps;