diff --git a/bin/resque b/bin/resque
index 687f6c4..186e1ee 100644
--- a/bin/resque
+++ b/bin/resque
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ if(!empty($COUNT) && $COUNT > 1) {
 
 if($count > 1) {
 	for($i = 0; $i < $count; ++$i) {
-		$pid = pcntl_fork();
+		$pid = Resque::fork();
 		if($pid == -1) {
 			die("Could not fork worker ".$i."\n");
 		}
diff --git a/lib/Resque.php b/lib/Resque.php
index 88cec4c..fa22ed1 100644
--- a/lib/Resque.php
+++ b/lib/Resque.php
@@ -26,12 +26,6 @@ class Resque
 	 */
 	protected static $redisDatabase = 0;
 
-	/**
-	 * @var int PID of current process. Used to detect changes when forking
-	 *  and implement "thread" safety to avoid race conditions.
-	 */
-	 protected static $pid = null;
-
 	/**
 	 * Given a host/port combination separated by a colon, set it as
 	 * the redis server that Resque will talk to.
@@ -54,15 +48,7 @@ class Resque
 	 */
 	public static function redis()
 	{
-		// Detect when the PID of the current process has changed (from a fork, etc)
-		// and force a reconnect to redis.
-		$pid = getmypid();
-		if (self::$pid !== $pid) {
-			self::$redis = null;
-			self::$pid   = $pid;
-		}
-
-		if(!is_null(self::$redis)) {
+		if (self::$redis !== null) {
 			return self::$redis;
 		}
 
@@ -75,6 +61,33 @@ class Resque
 		return self::$redis;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * fork() helper method for php-resque that handles issues PHP socket
+	 * and phpredis have with passing around sockets between child/parent
+	 * processes.
+	 *
+	 * Will close connection to Redis before forking.
+	 *
+	 * @return int Return vars as per pcntl_fork()
+	 */
+	public static function fork()
+	{
+		if(!function_exists('pcntl_fork')) {
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		// Close the connection to Redis before forking.
+		// This is a workaround for issues phpredis has.
+		self::$redis = null;
+
+		$pid = pcntl_fork();
+		if($pid === -1) {
+			throw new RuntimeException('Unable to fork child worker.');
+		}
+
+		return $pid;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Push a job to the end of a specific queue. If the queue does not
 	 * exist, then create it as well.
diff --git a/lib/Resque/Worker.php b/lib/Resque/Worker.php
index d103810..5dc678d 100644
--- a/lib/Resque/Worker.php
+++ b/lib/Resque/Worker.php
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ class Resque_Worker
 			Resque_Event::trigger('beforeFork', $job);
 			$this->workingOn($job);
 
-			$this->child = $this->fork();
+			$this->child = Resque::fork();
 
 			// Forked and we're the child. Run the job.
 			if ($this->child === 0 || $this->child === false) {
@@ -286,27 +286,6 @@ class Resque_Worker
 		return $queues;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Attempt to fork a child process from the parent to run a job in.
-	 *
-	 * Return values are those of pcntl_fork().
-	 *
-	 * @return int -1 if the fork failed, 0 for the forked child, the PID of the child for the parent.
-	 */
-	private function fork()
-	{
-		if(!function_exists('pcntl_fork')) {
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		$pid = pcntl_fork();
-		if($pid === -1) {
-			throw new RuntimeException('Unable to fork child worker.');
-		}
-
-		return $pid;
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Perform necessary actions to start a worker.
 	 */
@@ -474,7 +453,7 @@ class Resque_Worker
 	 */
 	public function registerWorker()
 	{
-		Resque::redis()->sadd('workers', $this);
+		Resque::redis()->sadd('workers', (string)$this);
 		Resque::redis()->set('worker:' . (string)$this . ':started', strftime('%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Z %Y'));
 	}