diff --git a/bypy/macos/__main__.py b/bypy/macos/__main__.py
index 4ac6831aba..c3a8924d00 100644
--- a/bypy/macos/__main__.py
+++ b/bypy/macos/__main__.py
@@ -742,15 +742,24 @@ class Freeze:
             e = plist['CFBundleDocumentTypes'][0]
             e['CFBundleTypeExtensions'] = [x.lower() for x in formats]
 
+        def headless_plist(plist):
+            plist['CFBundleDisplayName'] = 'calibre worker process'
+            plist['CFBundleExecutable'] = 'calibre-parallel'
+            plist['CFBundleIdentifier'] = 'com.calibre-ebook.calibre-parallel'
+            plist['LSBackgroundOnly'] = '1'
+            plist.pop('CFBundleDocumentTypes')
+
         self.create_app_clone('ebook-viewer.app', partial(specialise_plist, 'ebook-viewer', input_formats))
         self.create_app_clone('ebook-edit.app', partial(specialise_plist, 'ebook-edit', edit_formats),
                 base_dir=join(self.contents_dir, 'ebook-viewer.app', 'Contents'))
+        self.create_app_clone('headless.app', headless_plist,
+                base_dir=join(self.contents_dir, 'ebook-viewer.app', 'Contents', 'ebook-edit.app', 'Contents'))
         # We need to move the webengine resources into the deepest sub-app
         # because the sandbox gets set to the nearest enclosing app which
         # means that WebEngine will fail to access its resources when running
         # in the sub-apps unless they are present inside the sub app bundle
         # somewhere
-        base_dest = join(self.contents_dir, 'ebook-viewer.app', 'Contents', 'ebook-edit.app', 'Contents', 'SharedSupport')
+        base_dest = join(self.contents_dir, 'ebook-viewer.app', 'Contents', 'ebook-edit.app', 'Contents', 'headless.app', 'Contents', 'SharedSupport')
         os.mkdir(base_dest)
         base_src = os.path.realpath(join(self.frameworks_dir, 'QtWebEngineCore.framework/Resources'))
         items = [join(base_src, 'qtwebengine_locales')] + glob.glob(join(base_src, '*.pak')) + glob.glob(join(base_src, '*.dat'))
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py b/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py
index a48178f048..7fdf1889df 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/ipc/launch.py
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ class Worker:
 
     @property
     def executable(self):
+        if ismacos and not hasattr(sys, 'running_from_setup'):
+            base = os.path.dirname(sys.executables_location)
+            return os.path.join(base, 'ebook-viewer.app/Contents/ebook-edit.app/Contents/headless.app/Contents/MacOS', self.exe_name)
         return exe_path(self.exe_name)
 
     @property