diff --git a/appium/webdriver/appium_service.py b/appium/webdriver/appium_service.py
index 26290883..ab37fd84 100644
--- a/appium/webdriver/appium_service.py
+++ b/appium/webdriver/appium_service.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 DEFAULT_HOST = '127.0.0.1'
 DEFAULT_PORT = 4723
 STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS = 60000
+STOP_TIMEOUT_SEC = 5.5
 STATE_CHECK_INTERVAL_MS = 500
 MAIN_SCRIPT_PATH = 'appium/build/lib/main.js'
 STATUS_URL = '/status'
@@ -124,15 +125,26 @@ def start(self, **kwargs: Any) -> sp.Popen:
             error_msg = startup_failure_msg
         if error_msg is not None:
             if stderr == sp.PIPE and self._process.stderr is not None:
-                # noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences
-                err_output = self._process.stderr.read()
+                # The server might still be running, for example if it does not listen on the expected URL.
+                # Reading its stderr before the process exits would block forever, so terminate it first.
+                self._process.terminate()
+                try:
+                    _, err_output = self._process.communicate(timeout=STOP_TIMEOUT_SEC)
+                except sp.TimeoutExpired:
+                    # The server ignored the termination request. Kill it, so its error output is not lost.
+                    self._process.kill()
+                    try:
+                        _, err_output = self._process.communicate(timeout=STOP_TIMEOUT_SEC)
+                    except sp.TimeoutExpired as e:
+                        # Another process might still hold stderr open. Keep the output read so far.
+                        err_output = e.stderr or b''
                 if err_output:
                     error_msg += f'\nOriginal error: {str(err_output)}'
             self.stop()
             raise AppiumServiceError(error_msg)
         return self._process
 
-    def stop(self, timeout: float = 5.5) -> bool:
+    def stop(self, timeout: float = STOP_TIMEOUT_SEC) -> bool:
         """Stops Appium service if it is running.
 
         The call will be ignored if the service is not running
diff --git a/test/unit/webdriver/appium_service_test.py b/test/unit/webdriver/appium_service_test.py
index 4645d475..360f0ed6 100644
--- a/test/unit/webdriver/appium_service_test.py
+++ b/test/unit/webdriver/appium_service_test.py
@@ -71,3 +71,66 @@ def advance_time(seconds):
         assert service.is_listening is expected_result
         assert clock.perf_counter.return_value == expected_elapsed
         assert connection.request.call_args_list == [call('HEAD', 'http://127.0.0.1:4723/status')] * expected_requests
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        ('poll_result', 'is_service_listening', 'expected_message'),
+        [
+            (None, Mock(return_value=False), 'Appium server has started but is not listening'),
+            (1, Mock(side_effect=appium_service.AppiumStartupError), 'Appium server process is unable to start'),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_start_failure_terminates_process_before_reading_stderr(
+        self, monkeypatch, poll_result, is_service_listening, expected_message
+    ):
+        process = Mock()
+        process.poll.return_value = poll_result
+        process.communicate.return_value = (b'', b'startup error details')
+        monkeypatch.setattr(appium_service.sp, 'Popen', Mock(return_value=process))
+        monkeypatch.setattr(appium_service, 'is_service_listening', is_service_listening)
+
+        with pytest.raises(AppiumServiceError, match=expected_message) as excinfo:
+            AppiumService().start(
+                node='node', npm='npm', main_script='appium.js', timeout_ms=1000, stderr=appium_service.sp.PIPE
+            )
+
+        assert "Original error: b'startup error details'" in str(excinfo.value)
+        # Reading stderr of a process that is still running blocks until the process exits
+        process.stderr.read.assert_not_called()
+        method_names = [name for name, _, _ in process.method_calls]
+        assert method_names.index('terminate') < method_names.index('communicate')
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        ('communicate_results', 'expected_error'),
+        [
+            (
+                [appium_service.sp.TimeoutExpired('appium', 5.5), (b'', b'startup error details')],
+                "b'startup error details'",
+            ),
+            (
+                [
+                    appium_service.sp.TimeoutExpired('appium', 5.5),
+                    appium_service.sp.TimeoutExpired('appium', 5.5, stderr=b'partial error details'),
+                ],
+                "b'partial error details'",
+            ),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_start_failure_keeps_stderr_if_process_ignores_terminate(self, monkeypatch, communicate_results, expected_error):
+        process = Mock()
+        process.poll.return_value = None
+        process.communicate.side_effect = communicate_results
+
+        def kill():
+            process.poll.return_value = -9
+
+        process.kill.side_effect = kill
+        monkeypatch.setattr(appium_service.sp, 'Popen', Mock(return_value=process))
+        monkeypatch.setattr(appium_service, 'is_service_listening', Mock(return_value=False))
+
+        with pytest.raises(AppiumServiceError, match='Appium server has started but is not listening') as excinfo:
+            AppiumService().start(
+                node='node', npm='npm', main_script='appium.js', timeout_ms=1000, stderr=appium_service.sp.PIPE
+            )
+
+        assert f'Original error: {expected_error}' in str(excinfo.value)
+        process.kill.assert_called_once()