diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/NullProcessPipes.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/NullProcessPipes.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..438c1c0581474
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/NullProcessPipes.php
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Process;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\RuntimeException;
+
+/**
+ * NullProcessPipes allow redirecting output to dev/null without a subshell. Useful for processes that communicate
+ * over other means.
+ */
+class NullProcessPipes extends ProcessPipes
+{
+    /**
+     * Returns an array of descriptors for the use of proc_open.
+     *
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function getDescriptors()
+    {
+        $nullfile = defined('PHP_WINDOWS_VERSION_BUILD') ? 'NUL' : '/dev/null';
+        return array(
+
+            array('pipe', 'r'), // stdin
+            array('file', $nullfile, 'a+'), // stdout
+            array('file', $nullfile, 'a+'), //stderr
+        );
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Process.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Process.php
index 39caa3308f7e3..0eb26476a12c9 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Process.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Process.php
@@ -991,6 +991,20 @@ public function checkTimeout()
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the process pipes to use.
+     *
+     * @param ProcessPipes $pipes
+     * @throws LogicException If called after start()
+     */
+    public function setProcessPipes(ProcessPipes $pipes)
+    {
+        if ($this->status !== self::STATUS_READY) {
+            throw new LogicException('ProcessPipes cannot be changed after the process has started');
+        }
+        $this->processPipes = $pipes;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Creates the descriptors needed by the proc_open.
      *
@@ -998,7 +1012,9 @@ public function checkTimeout()
      */
     private function getDescriptors()
     {
-        $this->processPipes = new ProcessPipes($this->useFileHandles);
+        if (!$this->processPipes) {
+            $this->processPipes = new ProcessPipes($this->useFileHandles);
+        }
         $descriptors = $this->processPipes->getDescriptors();
 
         if (!$this->useFileHandles && $this->enhanceSigchildCompatibility && $this->isSigchildEnabled()) {
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
index b6168feb62d0e..dcb1b18c445c8 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ class ProcessBuilder
     private $options = array();
     private $inheritEnv = true;
     private $prefix = array();
+    private $processPipes;
 
     public function __construct(array $arguments = array())
     {
@@ -117,6 +118,20 @@ public function setInput($stdin)
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the process pipes to use for the new process
+     *
+     * @param ProcessPipes $pipes
+     *
+     * @return ProcessBuilder
+     */
+    public function setProcessPipes(ProcessPipes $pipes)
+    {
+        $this->processPipes = $pipes;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Sets the process timeout.
      *
@@ -172,6 +187,11 @@ public function getProcess()
             $env = $this->env;
         }
 
-        return new Process($script, $this->cwd, $env, $this->stdin, $this->timeout, $options);
+        $process = new Process($script, $this->cwd, $env, $this->stdin, $this->timeout, $options);
+        if ($this->processPipes) {
+            $process->setProcessPipes($this->processPipes);
+        }
+
+        return $process;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/HeavyOutputtingProcess.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/HeavyOutputtingProcess.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c350fbd995a5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/HeavyOutputtingProcess.php
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Runs a php script that will dump a large amount of output and then quit.
+ */
+
+for ($i = 0; $i < 100000; $i++) {
+    echo "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet\n";
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/NullProcessPipesTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/NullProcessPipesTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8e3c91e50f9fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/NullProcessPipesTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Process\Tests;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Process\NullProcessPipes;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ProcessPipes;
+
+class NullProcessPipesTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    public function testProcessCompletesWithNullPipes()
+    {
+        // Without null pipes the pipe would fill and the process will never complete
+        $process = new Process('php ' . __DIR__ . '/HeavyOutputtingProcess.php');
+
+        $process->setProcessPipes(new NullProcessPipes());
+        $process->start();
+
+        while ($process->isRunning()) {
+            usleep(100e3);
+        }
+
+        // No output!
+        $this->assertEquals('', $process->getOutput());
+    }
+
+    public function testReassigningPipesAfterStartIsNotAllowed()
+    {
+        $process = new Process('php -r "sleep(1);');
+
+        $process->setProcessPipes(new NullProcessPipes());
+        $process->start();
+
+        $this->setExpectedException('Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\LogicException');
+        $process->setProcessPipes(new ProcessPipes());
+    }
+
+    public function testRestartedProcesses() {
+        $process  = new Process('echo asdf');
+
+        $process->run();
+        $this->assertEquals("asdf\n", $process->getOutput());
+
+        $process->run();
+        $this->assertEquals("asdf\n", $process->getOutput());
+    }
+}