diff --git a/panda/src/ipc/ipc_nspr_traits.h b/panda/src/ipc/ipc_nspr_traits.h
index 16f40a33da..1b50d622b7 100644
--- a/panda/src/ipc/ipc_nspr_traits.h
+++ b/panda/src/ipc/ipc_nspr_traits.h
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ public:
       _fn = fn;
       // create the thread, decide it's priority, if it's detached, and if it's
       // a kernel thread, etc
-      _thread = PR_CreateThread(PR_USER_THREAD, thread_wrapper, this,
+      _thread = PR_CreateThread(PR_SYSTEM_THREAD, thread_wrapper, this,
 				priority_map(pri), PR_GLOBAL_BOUND_THREAD,
 				det?PR_UNJOINABLE_THREAD:PR_JOINABLE_THREAD,
 				256*1024);