diff --git a/pkgs/plt-services/meta/pkg-build/main.rkt b/pkgs/plt-services/meta/pkg-build/main.rkt
index f49fdea2ce..06c6d57bc0 100644
--- a/pkgs/plt-services/meta/pkg-build/main.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/plt-services/meta/pkg-build/main.rkt
@@ -843,6 +843,7 @@
     (define done?-box (box #f))
     (define t (thread/chunk-output
                (lambda ()
+                 (break-enabled #t)
                  (status "Sending to ~a:\n" (vm-name vm))
                  (show-list pkgs)
                  (flush-chunk-output)