diff --git a/include/hobbes/eval/cmodule.H b/include/hobbes/eval/cmodule.H
index 037d4e2c..b79a024b 100644
--- a/include/hobbes/eval/cmodule.H
+++ b/include/hobbes/eval/cmodule.H
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 #include <hobbes/eval/func.H>
 #include <hobbes/lang/module.H>
 
+#include <functional>
+
 namespace hobbes {
 
 class cc;
@@ -17,7 +19,9 @@ void pushModuleDir(const std::string&);
 void popModuleDir();
 
 // compile a whole module into a cc context
-void compile(cc*, const ModulePtr& m);
+// once stopFn() is true, the compilation stops prematurely,
+//   cc is not valid anymore, all you can do is to destroy it
+void compile(cc*, const ModulePtr& m, std::function<bool()> stopFn=[] { return false; });
 
 // set language options, display language options
 using OptDescs = std::map<std::string, std::string>;
diff --git a/lib/hobbes/eval/cmodule.C b/lib/hobbes/eval/cmodule.C
index 17e99cb8..998b0760 100644
--- a/lib/hobbes/eval/cmodule.C
+++ b/lib/hobbes/eval/cmodule.C
@@ -794,8 +794,11 @@ void compile(const ModulePtr &, cc *, const MSafePragmaDef *mpd) {
 // for now, just treat each definition independently and stick it in the input
 // environment
 //   (this disallows things like mutual recursion)
-void compile(cc *e, const ModulePtr &m) {
+void compile(cc *e, const ModulePtr &m, std::function<bool()> stopFn) {
   for (const auto& tmd : m->definitions()) {
+    if (stopFn()) {
+      return;
+    }
     auto md = applyTypeDefns(m, e, tmd);
 
     if (const MImport *imp = is<MImport>(md)) {
@@ -821,6 +824,9 @@ void compile(cc *e, const ModulePtr &m) {
 
   // compile unsafe pragma
   for (const auto& tmd : m->definitions()) {
+    if (stopFn()) {
+      return;
+    }
     if (const MUnsafePragmaDef *vpd = is<MUnsafePragmaDef>(tmd)) {
       compile(m, e, vpd);
     }
@@ -828,6 +834,9 @@ void compile(cc *e, const ModulePtr &m) {
 
   // compile safe pragma
   for (const auto& tmd : m->definitions()) {
+    if (stopFn()) {
+      return;
+    }
     if (const MSafePragmaDef *vpd = is<MSafePragmaDef>(tmd)) {
       compile(m, e, vpd);
     }
@@ -835,6 +844,9 @@ void compile(cc *e, const ModulePtr &m) {
 
   // generate unsafe transitive closure
   for (const auto& tmd : m->definitions()) {
+    if (stopFn()) {
+      return;
+    }
     if (const MVarDef *vd = is<MVarDef>(tmd)) {
       switchOf(vd->varExpr(), buildTransitiveUnsafePragmaClosure(*vd));
     }
diff --git a/test/Spawn.C b/test/Spawn.C
index 3fe1e93b..0192c7a5 100644
--- a/test/Spawn.C
+++ b/test/Spawn.C
@@ -27,11 +27,6 @@ void startChild(int t, hobbes::proc &p) {
   });
 }
 
-bool hasProcessExited(pid_t pid) {
-  const std::string procDir = "/proc/" + std::to_string(pid);
-  return !exists(procDir);
-}
-
 bool msgInException(const std::exception &e, const std::string &msg) {
   return std::string(e.what()).find(msg) != std::string::npos;
 }
@@ -40,7 +35,7 @@ const char *const KEY = "HOBBES_LOADING_TIMEOUT_IN_SECS";
 } // namespace
 
 TEST(Spawn, TimeoutKill) {
-  hobbes::proc p;
+  hobbes::proc p{};
   hobbes::str::env(KEY, "1"); // this may affect other tests' behavior
   bool exp = false;
   try {
@@ -50,11 +45,11 @@ TEST(Spawn, TimeoutKill) {
     EXPECT_TRUE(msgInException(e, "timed out"));
   }
   EXPECT_TRUE(exp);
-  EXPECT_TRUE(hasProcessExited(p.pid));
+  //p is invalid when spawn goes wrong, cannot be checked against
 }
 
 TEST(Spawn, Normal) {
-  hobbes::proc p;
+  hobbes::proc p{};
   unsetenv(KEY);
   startChild(2, p); // should not throw any exceptions
 }