diff --git a/src/_ert/threading.py b/src/_ert/threading.py
index 3893deb7f5c..b5c0b98c90e 100644
--- a/src/_ert/threading.py
+++ b/src/_ert/threading.py
@@ -6,11 +6,15 @@
 import threading
 from threading import Thread as _Thread
 from types import FrameType
-from typing import Optional
+from typing import Any, Callable, Iterable, Optional
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+_current_exception: Optional[ErtThreadError] = None
+_can_raise = False
+
+
 class ErtThreadError(Exception):
     def __init__(self, exception: BaseException, thread: _Thread) -> None:
         super().__init__(repr(exception))
@@ -26,29 +30,28 @@ def __str__(self) -> str:
 
 
 class ErtThread(_Thread):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        target: Callable[..., Any],
+        name: str | None = None,
+        args: Iterable[Any] = (),
+        *,
+        daemon: bool | None = None,
+        should_raise: bool = True,
+    ) -> None:
+        super().__init__(target=target, name=name, args=args, daemon=daemon)
+        self._should_raise = should_raise
+
     def run(self) -> None:
         try:
             super().run()
         except BaseException as exc:
             logger.error(str(exc), exc_info=exc)
-
-            # Re-raising this exception on main thread can have unknown
-            # repercussions in production. Potentially, an unnecessary thread
-            # was dying due to an exception and we didn't care, but with this
-            # change this would bring down all of Ert. We take the conservative
-            # approach and make re-raising optional, and enable it only for
-            # the test suite.
-            if os.environ.get("_ERT_THREAD_RAISE", ""):
+            if _can_raise and self._should_raise:
                 _raise_on_main_thread(exc)
 
 
-_current_exception: Optional[BaseException] = None
-
-
 def _raise_on_main_thread(exception: BaseException) -> None:
-    if threading.main_thread() is threading.current_thread():
-        raise exception
-
     global _current_exception  # noqa: PLW0603
     _current_exception = ErtThreadError(exception, threading.current_thread())
 
@@ -68,4 +71,10 @@ def _handler(signum: int, frametype: FrameType | None) -> None:
     raise current_exception
 
 
-signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, _handler)
+def set_signal_handler() -> None:
+    global _can_raise  # noqa: PLW0603
+    if _can_raise:
+        return
+
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, _handler)
+    _can_raise = True
diff --git a/src/ert/__main__.py b/src/ert/__main__.py
index e0443e25ded..927bb296d35 100755
--- a/src/ert/__main__.py
+++ b/src/ert/__main__.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from resdata import set_abort_handler
 
 import ert.shared
+from _ert.threading import set_signal_handler
 from ert.cli import (
     ENSEMBLE_EXPERIMENT_MODE,
     ENSEMBLE_SMOOTHER_MODE,
@@ -537,6 +538,9 @@ def main() -> None:
     warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=DeprecationWarning)
     locale.setlocale(locale.LC_NUMERIC, "C")
 
+    # Have ErtThread re-raise uncaught exceptions on main thread
+    set_signal_handler()
+
     args = ert_parser(None, sys.argv[1:])
 
     log_dir = os.path.abspath(args.logdir)
diff --git a/src/ert/gui/tools/plugins/plugin_runner.py b/src/ert/gui/tools/plugins/plugin_runner.py
index 078ea76b33c..b5ae705ea1c 100644
--- a/src/ert/gui/tools/plugins/plugin_runner.py
+++ b/src/ert/gui/tools/plugins/plugin_runner.py
@@ -36,16 +36,22 @@ def run(self):
 
             run_function = partial(self.__runWorkflowJob, plugin, arguments)
 
-            workflow_job_thread = ErtThread(name="ert_gui_workflow_job_thread")
-            workflow_job_thread.daemon = True
-            workflow_job_thread.run = run_function
+            workflow_job_thread = ErtThread(
+                name="ert_gui_workflow_job_thread",
+                target=run_function,
+                daemon=True,
+                should_raise=False,
+            )
             workflow_job_thread.start()
 
             poll_function = partial(self.__pollRunner, dialog)
 
-            self.poll_thread = ErtThread(name="ert_gui_workflow_job_poll_thread")
-            self.poll_thread.daemon = True
-            self.poll_thread.run = poll_function
+            self.poll_thread = ErtThread(
+                name="ert_gui_workflow_job_poll_thread",
+                target=poll_function,
+                daemon=True,
+                should_raise=False,
+            )
             self.poll_thread.start()
 
             dialog.show()
diff --git a/src/ert/gui/tools/workflows/run_workflow_widget.py b/src/ert/gui/tools/workflows/run_workflow_widget.py
index aedacc5448b..76bb588ed1d 100644
--- a/src/ert/gui/tools/workflows/run_workflow_widget.py
+++ b/src/ert/gui/tools/workflows/run_workflow_widget.py
@@ -115,9 +115,12 @@ def startWorkflow(self):
         )
         self._running_workflow_dialog.closeButtonPressed.connect(self.cancelWorkflow)
 
-        workflow_thread = ErtThread(name="ert_gui_workflow_thread")
-        workflow_thread.daemon = True
-        workflow_thread.run = self.runWorkflow
+        workflow_thread = ErtThread(
+            name="ert_gui_workflow_thread",
+            target=self.runWorkflow,
+            daemon=True,
+            should_raise=False,
+        )
 
         workflow = self.ert.ert_config.workflows[self.getCurrentWorkflowName()]
         self._workflow_runner = WorkflowRunner(
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index ac5223874f6..e4f83281242 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, cast
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock
 
+from _ert.threading import set_signal_handler
+
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
     from importlib.resources import files
 else:
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ def log_check():
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
 def _reraise_thread_exceptions_on_main_thread():
     """Allow `ert.shared.threading.ErtThread` to re-raise exceptions on main thread"""
-    os.environ["_ERT_THREAD_RAISE"] = "1"
+    set_signal_handler()
 
 
 @pytest.fixture