diff --git a/kitty/child.c b/kitty/child.c
index ea6c14073..3fb3f8861 100644
--- a/kitty/child.c
+++ b/kitty/child.c
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ spawn(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args) {
 #undef exit_on_err
     free(argv);
     free(env);
-    if (pid == -1) return NULL;
+    if (PyErr_Occurred()) return NULL;
     return PyLong_FromLong(pid);
 }
 
diff --git a/kitty/session.py b/kitty/session.py
index 6685d2fb3..3b5daf17c 100644
--- a/kitty/session.py
+++ b/kitty/session.py
@@ -111,9 +111,9 @@ def create_session(opts, args=None, special_window=None, cwd_from=None):
         cmd = args.args if args and args.args else [shell_path]
         from kitty.tabs import SpecialWindow
         if getattr(args, 'title', None):
-            ans.add_window(SpecialWindow(cmd, override_title=args.title, cwd_from=cwd_from))
+            ans.add_special_window(SpecialWindow(cmd, override_title=args.title, cwd_from=cwd_from))
         else:
-            ans.add_window(SpecialWindow(cmd, cwd_from=cwd_from))
+            ans.add_special_window(SpecialWindow(cmd, cwd_from=cwd_from))
     else:
         ans.add_special_window(special_window)
     return ans