https://github.com/netinvent/command_runner/pull/19

Index: command_runner/__init__.py
--- command_runner/__init__.py.orig
+++ command_runner/__init__.py
@@ -987,7 +987,7 @@ def deferred_command(command, defer_time=300):
     if os.name == "nt":
         deferrer = "ping 127.0.0.1 -n {} > NUL & ".format(defer_time)
     else:
-        deferrer = "ping 127.0.0.1 -c {} > /dev/null && ".format(defer_time)
+        deferrer = "sleep {} && ".format(defer_time)
 
     # We'll create a independent shell process that will not be attached to any stdio interface
     # Our command shall be a single string since shell=True