diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index dd3d3c6..296be49 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "rda_python_dsquasar"
-version = "3.0.20"
+version = "3.0.21"
 authors = [
   { name="Zaihua Ji", email="zji@ucar.edu" },
 ]
diff --git a/src/rda_python_dsquasar/dsquasar.py b/src/rda_python_dsquasar/dsquasar.py
index 75cc322..32ff71c 100644
--- a/src/rda_python_dsquasar/dsquasar.py
+++ b/src/rda_python_dsquasar/dsquasar.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 import re
 import sys
 import time
-import signal
 from os import path as op
 from time import time as tm
 from rda_python_common.pg_cmd import PgCMD
@@ -203,7 +202,7 @@ def start_actions(self):
       self.cmdlog(self.PGBACK['cmd'])
       self.PGBACK['starttime'] = tm()
       self.set_walltime_deadline()
-      self.catch_batch_termination()
+      self.catch_term_signal(self.batch_term_report)
       if self.sopts['u']:
          if self.sopts['a']: self.pglog("-u: Dataset IDs must be provided to Unlock datasets", self.LOGWRN)
          self.unlock_datasets()
@@ -852,42 +851,29 @@ def set_walltime_deadline(self):
                  self.PGLOG['CURBID'], self.seconds_to_string_time(self.WALLTIME),
                  self.seconds_to_string_time(self.MAXRUNTIME)), self.LOGWRN)
 
-   # PBS kills a job that runs out of walltime with SIGTERM first and SIGKILL a few seconds
-   # later (the MoM's kill_delay, 10 seconds by default), and the same pair is what qdel
-   # sends. SIGTERM is the only warning there is, and nothing in the common library traps
-   # it, so the run used to die on the spot with whatever it had to say unsaid. catching it
-   # turns the last seconds into a report. only a batch run arms this: on the command line
-   # SIGTERM must keep killing the process the way the user expects.
-   def catch_batch_termination(self):
-      if self.PGLOG['CURBID'] < 1: return
-      signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, self.batch_term_handler)
-
-   # park a progress report and then die of the signal that was sent. this runs on borrowed
-   # time, so it does only what it must: no tar queue counts (two database queries we may
-   # not get to finish - the done count comes from memory), no dataset unlocking (the
-   # dscheck daemon already cleans up after a dead pid). the default handler is restored
-   # first so that a second signal, or the SIGKILL that follows, ends the run outright
-   # instead of re-entering here should the report hang.
+   # park a progress report for a run PBS is about to kill. catch_term_signal() arms this
+   # for a batch run only, restores the default handler before calling it, and re-raises
+   # the signal afterwards, so all this has to do is build the report.
+   # it runs on borrowed time (SIGKILL follows SIGTERM by the MoM's kill_delay, 10 seconds
+   # by default), so it does only what it must: no tar queue counts (two database queries
+   # we may not get to finish - the done count comes from memory), no dataset unlocking
+   # (the dscheck daemon already cleans up after a dead pid).
    # the report may have to be written from inside an interrupted database call; that is
    # why it goes through report_dscheck_email, whose cache_customized_email falls back to
    # sending the mail directly when the UPDATE fails.
-   def batch_term_handler(self, signum, frame):
-      signal.signal(signum, signal.SIG_DFL)
-      # a forked child shares the parent's dscheck record: it must not report for the run
-      if self.PGSIG['PPID'] > 1: os._exit(1)
-      if not self.PGBACK['einfo'] and self.PGBACK['doemail'] and self.PGLOG['DSCHECK']:
-         etime = self.seconds_to_string_time(int(tm() - self.PGBACK['starttime']))
-         amsg = self.action_message()
-         dmsg = self.batch_done_count()
-         wmsg = self.seconds_to_string_time(self.WALLTIME)
-         self.pglog(self.INDENT + "{}: Terminated by signal {} after {} of the {} PBS walltime, {}".format(
-                    amsg, signum, etime, wmsg, dmsg), self.LOGACT)
-         self.set_email("{}: {} terminated after {} of the {} PBS walltime, {}!".format(
-                        self.PGBACK['cmd'], amsg, etime, wmsg, dmsg), self.EMLTOP)
-         title = "dsquasar: {} terminated ({})".format(amsg, dmsg)
-         if self.PGBACK['errcnt']: title += " Error({})".format(self.PGBACK['errcnt'])
-         self.report_dscheck_email(title, 1)
-      os.kill(os.getpid(), signum)
+   def batch_term_report(self, signum, frame):
+      if self.PGBACK['einfo'] or not (self.PGBACK['doemail'] and self.PGLOG['DSCHECK']): return
+      etime = self.seconds_to_string_time(int(tm() - self.PGBACK['starttime']))
+      amsg = self.action_message()
+      dmsg = self.batch_done_count()
+      wmsg = self.seconds_to_string_time(self.WALLTIME)
+      self.pglog(self.INDENT + "{}: Terminated by signal {} after {} of the {} PBS walltime, {}".format(
+                 amsg, signum, etime, wmsg, dmsg), self.LOGACT)
+      self.set_email("{}: {} terminated after {} of the {} PBS walltime, {}!".format(
+                     self.PGBACK['cmd'], amsg, etime, wmsg, dmsg), self.EMLTOP)
+      title = "dsquasar: {} terminated ({})".format(amsg, dmsg)
+      if self.PGBACK['errcnt']: title += " Error({})".format(self.PGBACK['errcnt'])
+      self.report_dscheck_email(title, 1)
 
    # email a report for a run under dscheck control. the progress report is parked in
    # dscheck.einfo and the final report is sent right away. the run holds the check lock