diff --git a/jacodb-ets/src/main/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/utils/ProcessUtil.kt b/jacodb-ets/src/main/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/utils/ProcessUtil.kt
index b7579fbd5..5b0dea907 100644
--- a/jacodb-ets/src/main/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/utils/ProcessUtil.kt
+++ b/jacodb-ets/src/main/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/utils/ProcessUtil.kt
@@ -17,18 +17,50 @@
 package org.jacodb.ets.utils
 
 import mu.KotlinLogging
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
 import java.nio.charset.Charset
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+import java.util.stream.Stream
 import kotlin.time.Duration
 
 private val logger = KotlinLogging.logger {}
 
+/** Java 8 exposes parent cleanup only; process-tree cleanup is available on Java 9 and later. */
+private fun destroyDescendantsIfSupported(process: Process) {
+    val handleClass = try {
+        Class.forName("java.lang.ProcessHandle")
+    } catch (_: ClassNotFoundException) {
+        return
+    }
+
+    try {
+        val handle = Process::class.java.getMethod("toHandle").invoke(process)
+        val descendants = handleClass.getMethod("descendants").invoke(handle) as Stream<*>
+        val destroy = handleClass.getMethod("destroyForcibly")
+        descendants.use { children ->
+            children.forEach { child -> destroy.invoke(child) }
+        }
+    } catch (error: InvocationTargetException) {
+        val cause = error.targetException
+        if (cause is RuntimeException) throw cause
+        throw IllegalStateException("Failed to terminate process descendants", cause)
+    } catch (error: ReflectiveOperationException) {
+        throw IllegalStateException("Cannot access process-tree cleanup on this runtime", error)
+    }
+}
+
 private fun terminateAndReap(
     process: Process,
     initialInterruption: InterruptedException? = null,
 ) {
     var interruption = initialInterruption
+    var cleanupFailure: RuntimeException? = null
+    try {
+        destroyDescendantsIfSupported(process)
+    } catch (error: RuntimeException) {
+        cleanupFailure = error
+    }
     process.destroy()
     if (process.isAlive) {
         process.destroyForcibly()
@@ -49,9 +81,11 @@ private fun terminateAndReap(
         }
     }
     if (interruption != null) {
+        cleanupFailure?.let { interruption.addSuppressed(it) }
         Thread.currentThread().interrupt()
         throw interruption
     }
+    cleanupFailure?.let { throw it }
 }
 
 object ProcessUtil {
diff --git a/jacodb-ets/src/test/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/test/ProcessUtilTest.kt b/jacodb-ets/src/test/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/test/ProcessUtilTest.kt
index c5922ac0c..4e3b4af08 100644
--- a/jacodb-ets/src/test/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/test/ProcessUtilTest.kt
+++ b/jacodb-ets/src/test/kotlin/org/jacodb/ets/test/ProcessUtilTest.kt
@@ -17,17 +17,20 @@
 package org.jacodb.ets.test
 
 import org.jacodb.ets.utils.ProcessUtil
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assumptions.assumeTrue
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test
 import java.net.ConnectException
 import java.net.Socket
 import java.nio.file.FileSystems
 import java.nio.file.StandardWatchEventKinds
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference
 import kotlin.concurrent.thread
 import kotlin.io.path.createDirectory
 import kotlin.io.path.createTempDirectory
 import kotlin.io.path.readText
+import kotlin.time.Duration.Companion.seconds
 import kotlin.test.assertEquals
 import kotlin.test.assertFalse
 import kotlin.test.assertIs
@@ -149,4 +152,73 @@ class ProcessUtilTest {
             testDirectory.toFile().deleteRecursively()
         }
     }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `timeout terminates processes spawned by the command`() {
+        checkDescendantCleanup(interrupt = false)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `interruption terminates processes spawned by the command`() {
+        checkDescendantCleanup(interrupt = true)
+    }
+
+    private fun checkDescendantCleanup(interrupt: Boolean) {
+        assumeTrue(
+            runCatching { Class.forName("java.lang.ProcessHandle") }.isSuccess,
+            "Java 8 supports parent-only cleanup; descendant cleanup requires Java 9 or later",
+        )
+        val directory = createTempDirectory("process-util-descendant")
+        val ready = directory.resolve("ready")
+        val failure = AtomicReference<Throwable>()
+        val outcome = AtomicReference<ProcessUtil.Result>()
+        val watcher = FileSystems.getDefault().newWatchService()
+        directory.register(watcher, StandardWatchEventKinds.ENTRY_CREATE)
+        val childScript = "const fs = require('fs'); const net = require('net'); " +
+            "const server = net.createServer(socket => socket.end()); " +
+            "server.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', () => fs.writeFileSync(process.argv[1], " +
+            "process.pid + ' ' + server.address().port));"
+        val parentScript = "require('child_process').spawn(process.execPath, " +
+            "['-e', process.argv[1], process.argv[2]], {stdio: 'inherit'});"
+        val runner = thread(start = false) {
+            try {
+                outcome.set(ProcessUtil.run(
+                    command = listOf(node, "-e", parentScript, childScript, ready.toString()),
+                    timeout = if (interrupt) null else 1.seconds,
+                ))
+            } catch (error: Throwable) {
+                failure.set(error)
+            }
+        }
+        var pid: Long? = null
+
+        try {
+            runner.start()
+            assertTrue(watcher.poll(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS) != null, "descendant did not publish readiness")
+            val (childPid, port) = ready.readText().trim().split(' ')
+            pid = childPid.toLong()
+
+            if (interrupt) runner.interrupt()
+            runner.join(5000)
+
+            assertFalse(runner.isAlive, "process cleanup did not finish")
+            if (interrupt) assertIs<InterruptedException>(failure.get())
+            else {
+                assertEquals(null, failure.get())
+                assertTrue(outcome.get().isTimeout)
+            }
+            val connection = runCatching { Socket("127.0.0.1", port.toInt()).use { } }
+            assertIs<ConnectException>(connection.exceptionOrNull(), "descendant survived command cleanup")
+        } finally {
+            runner.interrupt()
+            runner.join(5000)
+            pid?.let { childPid ->
+                ProcessBuilder(node, "-e", "try { process.kill(Number(process.argv[1]), 'SIGKILL'); } catch {}", "$childPid")
+                    .start()
+                    .waitFor()
+            }
+            watcher.close()
+            directory.toFile().deleteRecursively()
+        }
+    }
 }