diff --git a/plugins/node_modules/vfs-local/localfs.js b/plugins/node_modules/vfs-local/localfs.js
index fc1fc779..bd092721 100644
--- a/plugins/node_modules/vfs-local/localfs.js
+++ b/plugins/node_modules/vfs-local/localfs.js
@@ -85,15 +85,17 @@ module.exports = function setup(fsOptions) {
         require("module")._initPaths();
     }
     if (!fsOptions.nopty) {
+        var modulesPath = fsOptions.nodePath || process.env.HOME + "/.c9/node_modules";
         // on darwin trying to load binary for a wrong version crashes the process
-        [(fsOptions.nodePath || process.env.HOME + "/.c9/node_modules") + "/pty.js",
-            "pty.js"].some(function(p) {
+        [modulesPath + "/node-pty-prebuilt",
+         modulesPath + "/pty.js",
+         "node-pty-prebuilt",
+         "pty.js"
+        ].some(function(p) {
             try {
                 pty = require(p);
                 return true;
-            } catch(e) {
-                console.warn(e, p);
-            }
+            } catch(e) {}
         });
         if (!pty)
             console.warn("unable to initialize pty.js:");
@@ -1685,6 +1687,9 @@ module.exports = function setup(fsOptions) {
                 var proc;
                 try {
                     proc = pty.spawn(path, args, options);
+                    proc.readable = true;
+                    proc.writable = true;
+
                     proc.on("error", function(){
                         // Prevent PTY from throwing an error;
                         // I don't know how to test and the src is funky because