 <p>If you want to totally throw it away:</p> <pre><code>import subprocess import os with open(os.devnull, 'w') as fp: cmd = subprocess.Popen(("[command]",), stdout=fp) </code></pre> <p>If you are using Python 2.5, you will need <code>from __future__ import with_statement</code>, or just don't use <code>with</code>.</p>