diff --git a/client/tests/kvm/kvm_subprocess.py b/client/tests/kvm/kvm_subprocess.py
index 07303a8..ba61a8c 100755
--- a/client/tests/kvm/kvm_subprocess.py
+++ b/client/tests/kvm/kvm_subprocess.py
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@
         return _locked(self.lock_server_running_filename)
 
 
-    def close(self, sig=signal.SIGTERM):
+    def close(self, sig=signal.SIGKILL):
         """
         Kill the child process if it's alive and remove temporary files.
 
@@ -375,10 +375,7 @@
         """
         # Kill it if it's alive
         if self.is_alive():
-            try:
-                os.kill(self.get_shell_pid(), sig)
-            except:
-                pass
+            kvm_utils.kill_process_tree(self.get_shell_pid(), sig)
         # Wait for the server to exit
         _wait(self.lock_server_running_filename)
         # Call all cleanup routines
diff --git a/client/tests/kvm/kvm_vm.py b/client/tests/kvm/kvm_vm.py
index bd7e0fc..79ca81d 100755
--- a/client/tests/kvm/kvm_vm.py
+++ b/client/tests/kvm/kvm_vm.py
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@
         # If the VM isn't dead yet...
         logging.debug("Cannot quit normally; sending a kill to close the "
                       "deal...")
-        kvm_utils.safe_kill(self.process.get_pid(), 9)
+        kvm_utils.kill_process_tree(self.process.get_pid(), 9)
         # Wait for the VM to be really dead
         if kvm_utils.wait_for(self.is_dead, 5, 0.5, 0.5):
             logging.debug("VM is down")