diff --git a/scheduler/thread.c b/scheduler/thread.c
index 591723eef4c..da903f95bcb 100644
--- a/scheduler/thread.c
+++ b/scheduler/thread.c
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
-#ifdef HAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H
-# include <sys/socket.h>
-#endif
 #ifdef HAVE_SYS_MMAN_H
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #endif
@@ -213,7 +210,6 @@ TEB *THREAD_Create( PDB *pdb, DWORD flags, DWORD stack_size, BOOL alloc_stack16,
                      LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sa, int *server_handle )
 {
     struct new_thread_request *req = get_req_buffer();
-    int fd[2];
     HANDLE cleanup_object;
 
     TEB *teb = VirtualAlloc(0, 0x1000, MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE);
@@ -233,24 +229,15 @@ TEB *THREAD_Create( PDB *pdb, DWORD flags, DWORD stack_size, BOOL alloc_stack16,
     teb->teb_sel = SELECTOR_AllocBlock( teb, 0x1000, SEGMENT_DATA, TRUE, FALSE );
     if (!teb->teb_sel) goto error;
 
-    /* Create the socket pair for server communication */
-
-    if (socketpair( AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0, fd ) == -1)
-    {
-        SetLastError( ERROR_TOO_MANY_OPEN_FILES );  /* FIXME */
-        goto error;
-    }
-    teb->socket = fd[0];
-    fcntl( fd[0], F_SETFD, 1 ); /* set close on exec flag */
-
     /* Create the thread on the server side */
 
     req->pid     = teb->process->server_pid;
     req->suspend = ((flags & CREATE_SUSPENDED) != 0);
     req->inherit = (sa && (sa->nLength>=sizeof(*sa)) && sa->bInheritHandle);
-    if (server_call_fd( REQ_NEW_THREAD, fd[1], NULL )) goto error;
+    if (server_call_fd( REQ_NEW_THREAD, -1, &teb->socket )) goto error;
     teb->tid = req->tid;
     *server_handle = req->handle;
+    fcntl( teb->socket, F_SETFD, 1 ); /* set close on exec flag */
 
     /* Do the rest of the initialization */
 
diff --git a/server/thread.c b/server/thread.c
index 39cd5cfd76a..5932644a849 100644
--- a/server/thread.c
+++ b/server/thread.c
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #endif
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H
+# include <sys/socket.h>
+#endif
 #include <sys/uio.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
@@ -546,24 +549,29 @@ DECL_HANDLER(new_thread)
 {
     struct thread *thread;
     struct process *process;
+    int sock[2];
 
-    if ((process = get_process_from_id( req->pid )))
+    if (!(process = get_process_from_id( req->pid ))) return;
+
+    if (socketpair( AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0, sock ) != -1)
     {
-        if ((fd = dup(fd)) != -1)
+        if ((thread = create_thread( sock[0], process, req->suspend )))
         {
-            if ((thread = create_thread( fd, process, req->suspend )))
+            req->tid = thread;
+            if ((req->handle = alloc_handle( current->process, thread,
+                                             THREAD_ALL_ACCESS, req->inherit )) != -1)
             {
-                req->tid = thread;
-                if ((req->handle = alloc_handle( current->process, thread,
-                                                 THREAD_ALL_ACCESS, req->inherit )) == -1)
-                    release_object( thread );
-                /* else will be released when the thread gets killed */
+                set_reply_fd( current, sock[1] );
+                release_object( process );
+                /* thread object will be released when the thread gets killed */
+                return;
             }
-            else close( fd );
+            release_object( thread );
         }
-        else file_set_error();
-        release_object( process );
+        close( sock[1] );
     }
+    else file_set_error();
+    release_object( process );
 }
 
 /* retrieve the thread buffer file descriptor */