diff -up plymouth-0.6.0/src/libplybootsplash/ply-window.c.more-debug plymouth-0.6.0/src/libplybootsplash/ply-window.c
--- plymouth-0.6.0/src/libplybootsplash/ply-window.c.more-debug	2008-11-05 17:15:29.000000000 -0500
+++ plymouth-0.6.0/src/libplybootsplash/ply-window.c	2008-11-07 13:49:47.000000000 -0500
@@ -493,7 +493,10 @@ ply_window_open (ply_window_t *window)
       window->vt_number = get_active_vt ();
 
       if (readlink ("/proc/self/fd/0", tty_name, sizeof (tty_name) - 1) < 0)
-        return false;
+        {
+          ply_trace ("could not read tty name of fd 0");
+          return false;
+        }
 
       window->tty_name = strdup (tty_name);
     }
@@ -503,7 +506,10 @@ ply_window_open (ply_window_t *window)
   window->tty_fd = open (window->tty_name, O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY);
 
   if (window->tty_fd < 0)
-    return false;
+    {
+      ply_trace ("could not open %s : %m", window->tty_name);
+      return false;
+    }
 
   if (!ply_window_set_unbuffered_input (window))
     ply_trace ("window '%s' will be line buffered", window->tty_name);
diff -up plymouth-0.6.0/src/main.c.more-debug plymouth-0.6.0/src/main.c
--- plymouth-0.6.0/src/main.c.more-debug	2008-11-07 13:49:47.000000000 -0500
+++ plymouth-0.6.0/src/main.c	2008-11-10 00:27:02.000000000 -0500
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ typedef struct
   uint32_t showing_details : 1;
   uint32_t system_initialized : 1;
   uint32_t is_redirected : 1;
+  uint32_t is_attached : 1;
 
   char *console;
 
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ static ply_window_t *create_window (stat
 
 static bool attach_to_running_session (state_t *state);
 static void on_escape_pressed (state_t *state);
+static bool has_open_window (state_t *state);
 
 static void
 on_session_output (state_t    *state,
@@ -220,6 +222,8 @@ has_open_window (state_t *state)
 {
   ply_list_node_t *node;
 
+  ply_trace ("checking for open windows");
+
   node = ply_list_get_first_node (state->windows);
   while (node != NULL)
     {
@@ -231,7 +235,22 @@ has_open_window (state_t *state)
       window = ply_list_node_get_data (node);
 
       if (ply_window_is_open (window))
-        return true;
+        {
+          int fd;
+          const char *name;
+
+          fd = ply_window_get_tty_fd (window);
+
+          if (fd >= 0)
+            name = ttyname (fd);
+          else
+            name = NULL;
+
+          ply_trace ("window %s%sis open",
+                     name != NULL? name : "",
+                     name != NULL? " " : "");
+          return true;
+        }
 
       node = next_node;
     }
@@ -324,10 +343,21 @@ close_windows (state_t *state)
 static void
 on_show_splash (state_t *state)
 {
+  bool has_window;
+
   open_windows (state);
 
-  if (!state->is_redirected && state->ptmx >= 0)
-    state->is_redirected = attach_to_running_session (state);
+  has_window = has_open_window (state);
+
+  if (!state->is_attached && state->ptmx >= 0 && has_window)
+    state->is_attached = attach_to_running_session (state);
+
+  if (!has_window && state->is_attached)
+    {
+      ply_trace ("no open windows, detaching session");
+      ply_terminal_session_detach (state->session);
+      state->is_attached = false;
+    }
 
   if (plymouth_should_show_default_splash (state))
     show_default_splash (state);
@@ -581,10 +611,12 @@ attach_to_running_session (state_t *stat
       ply_restore_errno ();
 
       state->is_redirected = false;
+      state->is_attached = false;
       return false;
     }
 
   state->is_redirected = should_be_redirected;
+  state->is_attached = true;
   state->session = session;
 
   return true;