diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dFileParams.cxx b/direct/src/plugin/p3dFileParams.cxx
index af7de5fdc2..e5cdbb235e 100644
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dFileParams.cxx
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dFileParams.cxx
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ P3DFileParams() {
 P3DFileParams::
 P3DFileParams(const P3DFileParams &copy) :
   _p3d_filename(copy._p3d_filename),
-  _tokens(copy._tokens)
+  _tokens(copy._tokens),
+  _args(copy._args)
 {
 }
 
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ void P3DFileParams::
 operator = (const P3DFileParams &other) {
   _p3d_filename = other._p3d_filename;
   _tokens = other._tokens;
+  _args = other._args;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dInstance.cxx b/direct/src/plugin/p3dInstance.cxx
index bc90ad46ca..dd9a2cf086 100644
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dInstance.cxx
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dInstance.cxx
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ P3DInstance(P3D_request_ready_func *func,
   _got_wparams = false;
 
   _fparams.set_tokens(tokens, num_tokens);
+  _fparams.set_args(argc, argv);
 
   P3DInstanceManager *inst_mgr = P3DInstanceManager::get_global_ptr();
   _instance_id = inst_mgr->get_unique_id();
diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dPackage.cxx b/direct/src/plugin/p3dPackage.cxx
index 984558471d..4ae7faba96 100755
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dPackage.cxx
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dPackage.cxx
@@ -345,6 +345,8 @@ got_desc_file(TiXmlDocument *doc, bool freshly_downloaded) {
 
   if (all_extracts_ok) {
     // Great, we're ready to begin.
+    nout << "All " << _extracts.size() << " extracts of " << _package_name
+         << " seem good.\n";
     report_done(true);
 
   } else {
diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.cxx b/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.cxx
index 3f45d962d0..bddecfc64e 100644
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.cxx
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.cxx
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ P3DSession(P3DInstance *inst) {
   _python_version = inst->get_python_version();
 
   _start_dir = inst_mgr->get_root_dir() + "/start";
+  _p3dpython_started = false;
   _p3dpython_running = false;
 
   _started_read_thread = false;
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ P3DSession::
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void P3DSession::
 shutdown() {
-  if (_p3dpython_running) {
+  if (_p3dpython_started) {
     // Tell the process we're going away.
     TiXmlDocument doc;
     TiXmlElement *xcommand = new TiXmlElement("command");
@@ -159,6 +160,7 @@ shutdown() {
 #endif  // _WIN32
 
     _p3dpython_running = false;
+    _p3dpython_started = false;
   }
 
   // If there are any leftover commands in the queue (presumably
@@ -258,7 +260,7 @@ terminate_instance(P3DInstance *inst) {
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void P3DSession::
 send_command(TiXmlDocument *command) {
-  if (_p3dpython_running) {
+  if (_p3dpython_started) {
     // Python is running.  Send the command.
     write_xml(_pipe_write, command, nout);
     delete command;
@@ -285,7 +287,7 @@ send_command(TiXmlDocument *command) {
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 TiXmlDocument *P3DSession::
 command_and_response(TiXmlDocument *command) {
-  if (!_p3dpython_running) {
+  if (!_p3dpython_started) {
     return NULL;
   }
 
@@ -307,9 +309,6 @@ command_and_response(TiXmlDocument *command) {
   while (ri == _responses.end()) {
     if (!_p3dpython_running) {
       // Hmm, looks like Python has gone away.
-
-      // TODO: make sure _p3dpython_running gets set to false when the
-      // process dies unexpectedly.
       _response_ready.release();
       return NULL;
     }
@@ -593,7 +592,7 @@ signal_request_ready(P3DInstance *inst) {
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void P3DSession::
 drop_pyobj(int object_id) {
-  if (_p3dpython_running) {
+  if (_p3dpython_started) {
     TiXmlDocument doc;
     TiXmlElement *xcommand = new TiXmlElement("command");
     xcommand->SetAttribute("cmd", "drop_pyobj");
@@ -641,7 +640,7 @@ report_packages_done(P3DInstance *inst, bool success) {
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void P3DSession::
 start_p3dpython(P3DInstance *inst) {
-  if (_p3dpython_running) {
+  if (_p3dpython_started) {
     // Already started.
     return;
   }
@@ -805,6 +804,7 @@ start_p3dpython(P3DInstance *inst) {
     nout << "Failed to create process.\n";
     return;
   }
+  _p3dpython_started = true;
   _p3dpython_running = true;
 
   if (!_pipe_read) {
@@ -880,6 +880,10 @@ rt_thread_run() {
     if (doc == NULL) {
       // Some error on reading.  Abort.
       rt_terminate();
+      _p3dpython_running = false;
+      _response_ready.acquire();
+      _response_ready.notify();
+      _response_ready.release();
       return;
     }
 
diff --git a/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.h b/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.h
index 7dc4017b74..250628a8c4 100644
--- a/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.h
+++ b/direct/src/plugin/p3dSession.h
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ private:
 #else
   int _p3dpython_pid;
 #endif
+  bool _p3dpython_started;
   bool _p3dpython_running;
 
   // The _response_ready mutex protects this structure.