diff --git a/async.zsh b/async.zsh
index d0f3f001..4c1dccc3 100644
--- a/async.zsh
+++ b/async.zsh
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 #
 # zsh-async
 #
-# version: 1.7.2
+# version: 1.8.0
 # author: Mathias Fredriksson
 # url: https://github.com/mafredri/zsh-async
 #
 
-typeset -g ASYNC_VERSION=1.7.2
+typeset -g ASYNC_VERSION=1.8.0
 # Produce debug output from zsh-async when set to 1.
 typeset -g ASYNC_DEBUG=${ASYNC_DEBUG:-0}
 
@@ -37,19 +37,27 @@ _async_job() {
 	# block, after the command block has completed, the stdin for `cat` is
 	# closed, causing stderr to be appended with a $'\0' at the end to mark the
 	# end of output from this job.
-	local jobname=${ASYNC_JOB_NAME:-$1}
-	local stdout stderr ret tok
-	{
-		stdout=$(eval "$@")
-		ret=$?
-		duration=$(( EPOCHREALTIME - duration ))  # Calculate duration.
+	local jobname=${ASYNC_JOB_NAME:-$1} out
+	out="$(
+		local stdout stderr ret tok
+		{
+			stdout=$(eval "$@")
+			ret=$?
+			duration=$(( EPOCHREALTIME - duration ))  # Calculate duration.
+
+			print -r -n - $'\0'${(q)jobname} $ret ${(q)stdout} $duration
+		} 2> >(stderr=$(cat) && print -r -n - " "${(q)stderr}$'\0')
+	)"
+	if [[ $out != $'\0'*$'\0' ]]; then
+		# Corrupted output (aborted job?), skipping.
+		return
+	fi
 
-		# Grab mutex lock, stalls until token is available.
-		read -r -k 1 -p tok || exit 1
+	# Grab mutex lock, stalls until token is available.
+	read -r -k 1 -p tok || return 1
 
-		# Return output (<job_name> <return_code> <stdout> <duration> <stderr>).
-		print -r -n - $'\0'${(q)jobname} $ret ${(q)stdout} $duration
-	} 2> >(stderr=$(cat) && print -r -n - " "${(q)stderr}$'\0')
+	# Return output (<job_name> <return_code> <stdout> <duration> <stderr>).
+	print -r -n - "$out"
 
 	# Unlock mutex by inserting a token.
 	print -n -p $tok
@@ -73,10 +81,13 @@ _async_worker() {
 	# When a zpty is deleted (using -d) all the zpty instances created before
 	# the one being deleted receive a SIGHUP, unless we catch it, the async
 	# worker would simply exit (stop working) even though visible in the list
-	# of zpty's (zpty -L).
-	TRAPHUP() {
-		return 0  # Return 0, indicating signal was handled.
-	}
+	# of zpty's (zpty -L). This has been fixed around the time of Zsh 5.4
+	# (not released).
+	if ! is-at-least 5.4.1; then
+		TRAPHUP() {
+			return 0  # Return 0, indicating signal was handled.
+		}
+	fi
 
 	local -A storage
 	local unique=0
@@ -121,15 +132,33 @@ _async_worker() {
 	# Register a SIGCHLD trap to handle the completion of child processes.
 	trap child_exit CHLD
 
-	# Process option parameters passed to worker
-	while getopts "np:u" opt; do
+	# Process option parameters passed to worker.
+	while getopts "np:uz" opt; do
 		case $opt in
 			n) notify_parent=1;;
 			p) parent_pid=$OPTARG;;
 			u) unique=1;;
+			z) notify_parent=0;;  # Uses ZLE watcher instead.
 		esac
 	done
 
+	# Terminate all running jobs, note that this function does not
+	# reinstall the child trap.
+	terminate_jobs() {
+		trap - CHLD   # Ignore child exits during kill.
+		coproc :      # Quit coproc.
+		coproc_pid=0  # Reset pid.
+
+		if is-at-least 5.4.1; then
+			trap '' HUP    # Catch the HUP sent to this process.
+			kill -HUP -$$  # Send to entire process group.
+			trap - HUP     # Disable HUP trap.
+		else
+			# We already handle HUP for Zsh < 5.4.1.
+			kill -HUP -$$  # Send to entire process group.
+		fi
+	}
+
 	killjobs() {
 		local tok
 		local -a pids
@@ -143,9 +172,8 @@ _async_worker() {
 		# process is in the middle of writing to stdin during kill.
 		(( coproc_pid )) && read -r -k 1 -p tok
 
-		kill -HUP -$$  # Send to entire process group.
-		coproc :       # Quit coproc.
-		coproc_pid=0   # Reset pid.
+		terminate_jobs
+		trap child_exit CHLD  # Reinstall child trap.
 	}
 
 	local request do_eval=0
@@ -153,17 +181,27 @@ _async_worker() {
 	while :; do
 		# Wait for jobs sent by async_job.
 		read -r -d $'\0' request || {
-			# Since we handle SIGHUP above (and thus do not know when `zpty -d`)
-			# occurs, a failure to read probably indicates that stdin has
-			# closed. This is why we propagate the signal to all children and
-			# exit manually.
-			kill -HUP -$$  # Send SIGHUP to all jobs.
-			exit 0
+			# Unknown error occurred while reading from stdin, the zpty
+			# worker is likely in a broken state, so we shut down.
+			terminate_jobs
+
+			# Stdin is broken and in case this was an unintended
+			# crash, we try to report it as a last hurrah.
+			print -r -n $'\0'"'[async]'" $(( 127 + 3 )) "''" 0 "'$0:$LINENO: zpty fd died, exiting'"$'\0'
+
+			# We use `return` to abort here because using `exit` may
+			# result in an infinite loop that never exits and, as a
+			# result, high CPU utilization.
+			return $(( 127 + 1 ))
 		}
 
+		# We need to clean the input here because sometimes when a zpty
+		# has died and been respawned, messages will be prefixed with a
+		# carraige return (\r, or \C-M).
+		request=${request#$'\C-M'}
+
 		# Check for non-job commands sent to worker
 		case $request in
-			_unset_trap)  notify_parent=0; continue;;
 			_killjobs)    killjobs; continue;;
 			_async_eval*) do_eval=1;;
 		esac
@@ -175,9 +213,11 @@ _async_worker() {
 		# Name of the job (first argument).
 		local job=$cmd[1]
 
-		# If worker should perform unique jobs
-		if (( unique )); then
-			# Check if a previous job is still running, if yes, let it finnish
+		# Check if a worker should perform unique jobs, unless
+		# this is an eval since they run synchronously.
+		if (( !do_eval )) && (( unique )); then
+			# Check if a previous job is still running, if yes,
+			# skip this job and let the previous one finish.
 			for pid in ${${(v)jobstates##*:*:}%\=*}; do
 				if [[ ${storage[$job]} == $pid ]]; then
 					continue 2
@@ -317,7 +357,7 @@ _async_zle_watcher() {
 		async_stop_worker $worker
 
 		if [[ -n $callback ]]; then
-			$callback '[async]' 2 "" 0 "$worker:zle -F $1 returned error $2" 0
+			$callback '[async]' 2 "" 0 "$0:$LINENO: error: fd for $worker failed: zle -F $1 returned error $2" 0
 		fi
 		return
 	fi;
@@ -327,6 +367,28 @@ _async_zle_watcher() {
 	fi
 }
 
+_async_send_job() {
+	setopt localoptions noshwordsplit noksharrays noposixidentifiers noposixstrings
+
+	local caller=$1
+	local worker=$2
+	shift 2
+
+	zpty -t $worker &>/dev/null || {
+		typeset -gA ASYNC_CALLBACKS
+		local callback=$ASYNC_CALLBACKS[$worker]
+
+		if [[ -n $callback ]]; then
+			$callback '[async]' 3 "" 0 "$0:$LINENO: error: no such worker: $worker" 0
+		else
+			print -u2 "$caller: no such async worker: $worker"
+		fi
+		return 1
+	}
+
+	zpty -w $worker "$@"$'\0'
+}
+
 #
 # Start a new asynchronous job on specified worker, assumes the worker is running.
 #
@@ -344,8 +406,7 @@ async_job() {
 		cmd=(${(q)cmd})  # Quote special characters in multi argument commands.
 	fi
 
-	# Quote the cmd in case RC_EXPAND_PARAM is set.
-	zpty -w $worker "$cmd"$'\0'
+	_async_send_job $0 $worker "$cmd"
 }
 
 #
@@ -369,7 +430,7 @@ async_worker_eval() {
 	fi
 
 	# Quote the cmd in case RC_EXPAND_PARAM is set.
-	zpty -w $worker "_async_eval $cmd"$'\0'
+	_async_send_job $0 $worker "_async_eval $cmd"
 }
 
 # This function traps notification signals and calls all registered callbacks
@@ -392,7 +453,7 @@ _async_notify_trap() {
 async_register_callback() {
 	setopt localoptions noshwordsplit nolocaltraps
 
-	typeset -gA ASYNC_CALLBACKS
+	typeset -gA ASYNC_PTYS ASYNC_CALLBACKS
 	local worker=$1; shift
 
 	ASYNC_CALLBACKS[$worker]="$*"
@@ -401,6 +462,14 @@ async_register_callback() {
 	# workers to notify (via -n) when a job is done.
 	if [[ ! -o interactive ]] || [[ ! -o zle ]]; then
 		trap '_async_notify_trap' WINCH
+	elif [[ -o interactive ]] && [[ -o zle ]]; then
+		local fd w
+		for fd w in ${(@kv)ASYNC_PTYS}; do
+			if [[ $w == $worker ]]; then
+				zle -F $fd _async_zle_watcher  # Register the ZLE handler.
+				break
+			fi
+		done
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -465,6 +534,8 @@ async_start_worker() {
 	setopt localoptions noshwordsplit
 
 	local worker=$1; shift
+	local -a args
+	args=("$@")
 	zpty -t $worker &>/dev/null && return
 
 	typeset -gA ASYNC_PTYS
@@ -478,15 +549,21 @@ async_start_worker() {
 		unsetopt xtrace
 	}
 
-	if (( ! ASYNC_ZPTY_RETURNS_FD )) && [[ -o interactive ]] && [[ -o zle ]]; then
-		# When zpty doesn't return a file descriptor (on older versions of zsh)
-		# we try to guess it anyway.
-		integer -l zptyfd
-		exec {zptyfd}>&1  # Open a new file descriptor (above 10).
-		exec {zptyfd}>&-  # Close it so it's free to be used by zpty.
+	if [[ -o interactive ]] && [[ -o zle ]]; then
+		# Inform the worker to ignore the notify flag and that we're
+		# using a ZLE watcher instead.
+		args+=(-z)
+
+		if (( ! ASYNC_ZPTY_RETURNS_FD )); then
+			# When zpty doesn't return a file descriptor (on older versions of zsh)
+			# we try to guess it anyway.
+			integer -l zptyfd
+			exec {zptyfd}>&1  # Open a new file descriptor (above 10).
+			exec {zptyfd}>&-  # Close it so it's free to be used by zpty.
+		fi
 	fi
 
-	zpty -b $worker _async_worker -p $$ $@ || {
+	zpty -b $worker _async_worker -p $$ $args || {
 		async_stop_worker $worker
 		return 1
 	}
@@ -494,7 +571,7 @@ async_start_worker() {
 	# Re-enable it if it was enabled, for debugging.
 	(( has_xtrace )) && setopt xtrace
 
-	if [[ $ZSH_VERSION < 5.0.8 ]]; then
+	if ! is-at-least 5.0.8; then
 		# For ZSH versions older than 5.0.8 we delay a bit to give
 		# time for the worker to start before issuing commands,
 		# otherwise it will not be ready to receive them.
@@ -506,11 +583,7 @@ async_start_worker() {
 			REPLY=$zptyfd  # Use the guessed value for the file desciptor.
 		fi
 
-		ASYNC_PTYS[$REPLY]=$worker        # Map the file desciptor to the worker.
-		zle -F $REPLY _async_zle_watcher  # Register the ZLE handler.
-
-		# Disable trap in favor of ZLE handler when notify is enabled (-n).
-		async_job $worker _unset_trap
+		ASYNC_PTYS[$REPLY]=$worker  # Map the file desciptor to the worker.
 	fi
 }
 
@@ -556,6 +629,9 @@ async_init() {
 	zmodload zsh/zpty
 	zmodload zsh/datetime
 
+	# Load is-at-least for reliable version check.
+	autoload -Uz is-at-least
+
 	# Check if zsh/zpty returns a file descriptor or not,
 	# shell must also be interactive with zle enabled.
 	typeset -g ASYNC_ZPTY_RETURNS_FD=0
diff --git a/pure.zsh b/pure.zsh
index 6eee2bf9..90919097 100644
--- a/pure.zsh
+++ b/pure.zsh
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ prompt_pure_set_colors() {
 prompt_pure_preprompt_render() {
 	setopt localoptions noshwordsplit
 
+	unset prompt_pure_async_render_requested
+
 	# Set color for Git branch/dirty status and change color if dirty checking has been delayed.
 	local git_color=$prompt_pure_colors[git:branch]
 	local git_dirty_color=$prompt_pure_colors[git:dirty]
@@ -129,7 +131,7 @@ prompt_pure_preprompt_render() {
 	# Initialize the preprompt array.
 	local -a preprompt_parts
 
-    # Username and machine, if applicable.
+	# Username and machine, if applicable.
 	[[ -n $prompt_pure_state[username] ]] && preprompt_parts+=($prompt_pure_state[username])
 
 	# Set the path.
@@ -191,6 +193,8 @@ prompt_pure_preprompt_render() {
 }
 
 prompt_pure_precmd() {
+	setopt localoptions noshwordsplit
+
 	# Check execution time and store it in a variable.
 	prompt_pure_check_cmd_exec_time
 	unset prompt_pure_cmd_timestamp
@@ -370,16 +374,22 @@ prompt_pure_async_renice() {
 	fi
 }
 
+prompt_pure_async_init() {
+	typeset -g prompt_pure_async_inited
+	if ((${prompt_pure_async_inited:-0})); then
+		return
+	fi
+	prompt_pure_async_inited=1
+	async_start_worker "prompt_pure" -u -n
+	async_register_callback "prompt_pure" prompt_pure_async_callback
+	async_worker_eval "prompt_pure" prompt_pure_async_renice
+}
+
 prompt_pure_async_tasks() {
 	setopt localoptions noshwordsplit
 
 	# Initialize the async worker.
-	((!${prompt_pure_async_init:-0})) && {
-		async_start_worker "prompt_pure" -u -n
-		async_register_callback "prompt_pure" prompt_pure_async_callback
-		typeset -g prompt_pure_async_init=1
-		async_job "prompt_pure" prompt_pure_async_renice
-	}
+	prompt_pure_async_init
 
 	# Update the current working directory of the async worker.
 	async_worker_eval "prompt_pure" builtin cd -q $PWD
@@ -463,10 +473,27 @@ prompt_pure_async_callback() {
 
 	case $job in
 		\[async])
-			# Code is 1 for corrupted worker output and 2 for dead worker.
-			if [[ $code -eq 2 ]]; then
-				# Our worker died unexpectedly.
-				typeset -g prompt_pure_async_init=0
+			# Handle all the errors that could indicate a crashed
+			# async worker. See zsh-async documentation for the
+			# definition of the exit codes.
+			if (( code == 2 )) || (( code == 3 )) || (( code == 130 )); then
+				# Our worker died unexpectedly, try to recover immediately.
+				# TODO(mafredri): Do we need to handle next_pending
+				#                 and defer the restart?
+				typeset -g prompt_pure_async_inited=0
+				async_stop_worker prompt_pure
+				prompt_pure_async_init   # Reinit the worker.
+				prompt_pure_async_tasks  # Restart all tasks.
+
+				# Reset render state due to restart.
+				unset prompt_pure_async_render_requested
+			fi
+			;;
+		\[async/eval])
+			if (( code )); then
+				# Looks like async_worker_eval failed,
+				# rerun async tasks just in case.
+				prompt_pure_async_tasks
 			fi
 			;;
 		prompt_pure_async_vcs_info)
@@ -563,8 +590,6 @@ prompt_pure_async_callback() {
 			typeset -g prompt_pure_git_stash=$output
 			[[ $prev_stash != $prompt_pure_git_stash ]] && do_render=1
 			;;
-		prompt_pure_async_renice)
-			;;
 	esac
 
 	if (( next_pending )); then