diff --git a/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/ash-forwarder-template b/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/ash-forwarder-template
index 3bdde75bd..141b7b5f8 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/ash-forwarder-template
+++ b/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/ash-forwarder-template
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ SCRIPT=$(realpath "$0")
 SCRIPTPATH=$(dirname "$SCRIPT")
 
 # execute the main start script
-$SCRIPTPATH/${{startScript}} -main ${{qualifiedClassName}} "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
+exec $SCRIPTPATH/${{startScript}} -main ${{qualifiedClassName}} "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/bash-forwarder-template b/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/bash-forwarder-template
index 20fe8f39a..48735ef75 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/bash-forwarder-template
+++ b/src/main/resources/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/scripts/bash-forwarder-template
@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@ SCRIPT=$(realpath "$0")
 SCRIPTPATH=$(dirname "$SCRIPT")
 
 # execute the main start script
-$SCRIPTPATH/${{startScript}} -main ${{qualifiedClassName}} "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
+exec $SCRIPTPATH/${{startScript}} -main ${{qualifiedClassName}} "$@"
\ No newline at end of file