diff --git a/src/uu/stty/src/stty.rs b/src/uu/stty/src/stty.rs
index 193c863c3d3..34cba9ffbdc 100644
--- a/src/uu/stty/src/stty.rs
+++ b/src/uu/stty/src/stty.rs
@@ -159,6 +159,17 @@ enum ArgOptions<'a> {
     SavedState(Vec<u32>),
 }
 
+impl ArgOptions<'_> {
+    /// Whether applying this argument changes the terminal settings.
+    ///
+    /// `Print` arguments only query the terminal, so a command built entirely out of them must
+    /// not call `tcsetattr`: doing so raises `SIGTTOU` in a background process group, which
+    /// stops the process instead of answering the query.
+    fn modifies_termios(&self) -> bool {
+        !matches!(self, ArgOptions::Print(_))
+    }
+}
+
 impl<'a> From<AllFlags<'a>> for ArgOptions<'a> {
     fn from(flag: AllFlags<'a>) -> Self {
         ArgOptions::Flags(flag)
@@ -436,7 +447,10 @@ fn stty(opts: &Options) -> UResult<()> {
                 }
             }
         }
-        tcsetattr(opts.file.as_fd(), set_arg, &termios)?;
+        // A query-only invocation such as `stty size` must not write the settings back.
+        if valid_args.iter().any(ArgOptions::modifies_termios) {
+            tcsetattr(opts.file.as_fd(), set_arg, &termios)?;
+        }
     } else {
         let termios = tcgetattr(opts.file.as_fd()).map_err_context(|| opts.device_name.clone())?;
         print_settings(&termios, opts)?;
@@ -1346,6 +1360,18 @@ mod tests {
 
     // Essential unit tests for complex internal parsing and logic functions.
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_print_settings_do_not_modify_termios() {
+        // `stty size` and `stty --help`-style queries must not reach `tcsetattr`, otherwise
+        // they raise SIGTTOU and hang when run from a background process group.
+        assert!(!ArgOptions::Print(PrintSetting::Size).modifies_termios());
+
+        // Anything that actually applies a setting still has to be written back.
+        assert!(ArgOptions::Mapping((S::VEOF, 4)).modifies_termios());
+        assert!(ArgOptions::SavedState(vec![0; 3]).modifies_termios());
+        assert!(ArgOptions::Special(SpecialSetting::Rows(24)).modifies_termios());
+    }
+
     // Control character parsing tests
     #[test]
     fn test_string_to_control_char_undef() {
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_stty.rs b/tests/by-util/test_stty.rs
index f8a2095a89d..8ef0fc375d5 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_stty.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_stty.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,97 @@ fn test_basic() {
         .stdout_contains("speed");
 }
 
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn test_size_from_background_process_group() {
+    use std::env;
+    use std::io;
+    use std::os::unix::process::CommandExt;
+    use std::process::{Command, Stdio};
+
+    const HELPER_ENV: &str = "UUTILS_STTY_BACKGROUND_HELPER";
+    const TEST_NAME: &str = "test_stty::test_size_from_background_process_group";
+
+    if env::var_os(HELPER_ENV).is_some() {
+        let mut command = Command::new(uutests::util::get_tests_binary());
+        command.args(["stty", "size"]);
+        // SAFETY: setpgid and signal are async-signal-safe and do not access memory shared with
+        // the parent between fork and exec.
+        unsafe {
+            command.pre_exec(|| {
+                if libc::setpgid(0, 0) == -1 {
+                    return Err(io::Error::last_os_error());
+                }
+                libc::signal(libc::SIGTTOU, libc::SIG_DFL);
+                Ok(())
+            });
+        }
+
+        let mut child = command.spawn().expect("failed to start stty");
+        let pid = child.id() as libc::pid_t;
+        let mut status = 0;
+        // SAFETY: pid belongs to child and status points to a valid integer for waitpid to fill.
+        assert_eq!(
+            unsafe { libc::waitpid(pid, &raw mut status, libc::WUNTRACED) },
+            pid
+        );
+
+        if libc::WIFSTOPPED(status) {
+            let signal = libc::WSTOPSIG(status);
+            // SAFETY: pid is also the process-group ID established by setpgid above.
+            unsafe {
+                libc::kill(-pid, libc::SIGKILL);
+            }
+            child.wait().expect("failed to reap stopped stty");
+            assert_ne!(
+                signal,
+                libc::SIGTTOU,
+                "`stty size` was stopped by SIGTTOU in a background process group"
+            );
+            panic!("`stty size` was stopped by signal {signal}");
+        }
+
+        // waitpid already reaped a child that exited normally; calling wait keeps Child's
+        // lifecycle explicit and should therefore report that no child remains.
+        let _ = child.wait();
+
+        assert!(
+            libc::WIFEXITED(status),
+            "`stty size` ended with {status:#x}"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(libc::WEXITSTATUS(status), 0);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    let (_path, _controller, replica) = pty_path();
+    let mut helper = Command::new(env::current_exe().unwrap());
+    helper
+        .args([TEST_NAME, "--exact", "--nocapture"])
+        .env(HELPER_ENV, "1")
+        .stdin(Stdio::from(replica));
+    // SAFETY: these libc calls are async-signal-safe. They give the helper its own session and
+    // make the fresh PTY on stdin its controlling terminal before exec.
+    unsafe {
+        helper.pre_exec(|| {
+            if libc::setsid() == -1
+                || libc::ioctl(0, libc::TIOCSCTTY as libc::c_ulong, 0) == -1
+                || libc::tcsetpgrp(0, libc::getpgrp()) == -1
+            {
+                return Err(io::Error::last_os_error());
+            }
+            Ok(())
+        });
+    }
+
+    let output = helper.output().expect("failed to start test helper");
+    assert!(
+        output.status.success(),
+        "background process-group helper failed:\n{}{}",
+        String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout),
+        String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr)
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 #[cfg(unix)]
 fn test_all_flag() {