diff --git a/doc/help/commands.asciidoc b/doc/help/commands.asciidoc
index 5d026bfca..3da81a391 100644
--- a/doc/help/commands.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/help/commands.asciidoc
@@ -1148,7 +1148,7 @@ Set a mark at the current scroll position in the current tab.
 
 [[spawn]]
 === spawn
-Syntax: +:spawn [*--userscript*] [*--verbose*] [*--detach*] 'cmdline'+
+Syntax: +:spawn [*--userscript*] [*--verbose*] [*--output*] [*--detach*] 'cmdline'+
 
 Spawn a command in a shell.
 
@@ -1163,6 +1163,7 @@ Spawn a command in a shell.
  - `/usr/share/qutebrowser/userscripts`
 
 * +*-v*+, +*--verbose*+: Show notifications when the command started/exited.
+* +*-o*+, +*--output*+: Whether the output should be shown in a new tab.
 * +*-d*+, +*--detach*+: Whether the command should be detached from qutebrowser.
 
 ==== note
diff --git a/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py b/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
index bced4daf4..3075a24da 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
@@ -1177,7 +1177,8 @@ class CommandDispatcher:
 
     @cmdutils.register(instance='command-dispatcher', scope='window',
                        maxsplit=0, no_replace_variables=True)
-    def spawn(self, cmdline, userscript=False, verbose=False, detach=False):
+    def spawn(self, cmdline, userscript=False, verbose=False,
+              output=False, detach=False):
         """Spawn a command in a shell.
 
         Args:
@@ -1188,6 +1189,7 @@ class CommandDispatcher:
                               (or `$XDG_DATA_DIR`)
                             - `/usr/share/qutebrowser/userscripts`
             verbose: Show notifications when the command started/exited.
+            output: Whether the output should be shown in a new tab.
             detach: Whether the command should be detached from qutebrowser.
             cmdline: The commandline to execute.
         """
@@ -1214,6 +1216,11 @@ class CommandDispatcher:
             else:
                 proc.start(cmd, args)
 
+        if output:
+            tabbed_browser = objreg.get('tabbed-browser', scope='window',
+                                        window='last-focused')
+            tabbed_browser.openurl(QUrl('qute://spawn-output'), newtab=True)
+
     @cmdutils.register(instance='command-dispatcher', scope='window')
     def home(self):
         """Open main startpage in current tab."""
diff --git a/qutebrowser/browser/qutescheme.py b/qutebrowser/browser/qutescheme.py
index e6262a007..32bc5806a 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/browser/qutescheme.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/browser/qutescheme.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ from qutebrowser.misc import objects
 
 
 pyeval_output = ":pyeval was never called"
+spawn_output = ":spawn was never called"
 
 
 _HANDLERS = {}
@@ -268,6 +269,13 @@ def qute_pyeval(_url):
     return 'text/html', html
 
 
+@add_handler('spawn-output')
+def qute_spawn_output(_url):
+    """Handler for qute://spawn-output."""
+    html = jinja.render('pre.html', title='spawn output', content=spawn_output)
+    return 'text/html', html
+
+
 @add_handler('version')
 @add_handler('verizon')
 def qute_version(_url):
diff --git a/qutebrowser/misc/guiprocess.py b/qutebrowser/misc/guiprocess.py
index 1adf6817e..4b74a512d 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/misc/guiprocess.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/misc/guiprocess.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ from PyQt5.QtCore import (pyqtSlot, pyqtSignal, QObject, QProcess,
                           QProcessEnvironment)
 
 from qutebrowser.utils import message, log
+from qutebrowser.browser import qutescheme
 
 # A mapping of QProcess::ErrorCode's to human-readable strings.
 
@@ -96,6 +97,13 @@ class GUIProcess(QObject):
         self._started = False
         log.procs.debug("Process finished with code {}, status {}.".format(
             code, status))
+
+        stderr = bytes(self._proc.readAllStandardError()).decode('utf-8')
+        stdout = bytes(self._proc.readAllStandardOutput()).decode('utf-8')
+
+        qutescheme.spawn_output = self._spawn_format(code, status,
+                                                    stdout, stderr)
+
         if status == QProcess.CrashExit:
             message.error("{} crashed!".format(self._what.capitalize()))
         elif status == QProcess.NormalExit and code == 0:
@@ -109,13 +117,22 @@ class GUIProcess(QObject):
             message.error("{} exited with status {}, see :messages for "
                           "details.".format(self._what.capitalize(), code))
 
-            stderr = bytes(self._proc.readAllStandardError()).decode('utf-8')
-            stdout = bytes(self._proc.readAllStandardOutput()).decode('utf-8')
             if stdout:
                 log.procs.error("Process stdout:\n" + stdout.strip())
             if stderr:
                 log.procs.error("Process stderr:\n" + stderr.strip())
 
+    def _spawn_format(self, code=0, status=0, stdout="", stderr=""):
+        """Produce a formatted string for spawn output."""
+        stdout = (stdout or "(No output)").strip()
+        stderr = (stderr or "(No output)").strip()
+
+        spawn_string = ("Process finished with code {}, status {}\n"
+                        "\nProcess stdout:\n {}"
+                        "\nProcess stderr:\n {}").format(code, status,
+                                                         stdout, stderr)
+        return spawn_string
+
     @pyqtSlot()
     def on_started(self):
         """Called when the process started successfully."""
diff --git a/scripts/dev/run_vulture.py b/scripts/dev/run_vulture.py
index 9d21ad428..657d4b85e 100755
--- a/scripts/dev/run_vulture.py
+++ b/scripts/dev/run_vulture.py
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ def whitelist_generator():  # noqa
     yield 'qutebrowser.utils.jinja.Loader.get_source'
     yield 'qutebrowser.utils.log.QtWarningFilter.filter'
     yield 'qutebrowser.browser.pdfjs.is_available'
+    yield 'qutebrowser.misc.guiprocess.spawn_output'
     yield 'QEvent.posted'
     yield 'log_stack'  # from message.py
     yield 'propagate'  # logging.getLogger('...).propagate = False
diff --git a/tests/unit/misc/test_guiprocess.py b/tests/unit/misc/test_guiprocess.py
index 674c250e5..25e46476e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/misc/test_guiprocess.py
+++ b/tests/unit/misc/test_guiprocess.py
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 
 """Tests for qutebrowser.misc.guiprocess."""
 
-import json
 import logging
 
 import pytest
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@ from PyQt5.QtCore import QProcess, QIODevice
 
 from qutebrowser.misc import guiprocess
 from qutebrowser.utils import usertypes
+from qutebrowser.browser import qutescheme
 
 
 @pytest.fixture()
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def test_start(proc, qtbot, message_mock, py_proc):
         proc.start(*argv)
 
     assert not message_mock.messages
-    assert bytes(proc._proc.readAll()).rstrip() == b'test'
+    assert qutescheme.spawn_output == proc._spawn_format(stdout="test")
 
 
 def test_start_verbose(proc, qtbot, message_mock, py_proc):
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def test_start_verbose(proc, qtbot, message_mock, py_proc):
     assert msgs[1].level == usertypes.MessageLevel.info
     assert msgs[0].text.startswith("Executing:")
     assert msgs[1].text == "Testprocess exited successfully."
-    assert bytes(proc._proc.readAll()).rstrip() == b'test'
+    assert qutescheme.spawn_output == proc._spawn_format(stdout="test")
 
 
 def test_start_env(monkeypatch, qtbot, py_proc):
@@ -99,10 +99,9 @@ def test_start_env(monkeypatch, qtbot, py_proc):
                            order='strict'):
         proc.start(*argv)
 
-    data = bytes(proc._proc.readAll()).decode('utf-8')
-    ret_env = json.loads(data)
-    assert 'QUTEBROWSER_TEST_1' in ret_env
-    assert 'QUTEBROWSER_TEST_2' in ret_env
+    data = qutescheme.spawn_output
+    assert 'QUTEBROWSER_TEST_1' in data
+    assert 'QUTEBROWSER_TEST_2' in data
 
 
 @pytest.mark.qt_log_ignore('QIODevice::read.*: WriteOnly device')