diff --git a/.air.toml b/.air.toml
index de97bd8b298..3740c4d4aa3 100644
--- a/.air.toml
+++ b/.air.toml
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ root = "."
 tmp_dir = ".air"
 
 [build]
+pre_cmd = ["killall -9 gitea 2>/dev/null || true"] # kill off potential zombie processes from previous runs
 cmd = "make --no-print-directory backend"
 bin = "gitea"
-delay = 1000
+delay = 2000
 include_ext = ["go", "tmpl"]
 include_file = ["main.go"]
 include_dir = ["cmd", "models", "modules", "options", "routers", "services"]