diff --git a/panel/panel_bar.py b/panel/panel_bar.py
index 8ef5006..a5e0c55 100755
--- a/panel/panel_bar.py
+++ b/panel/panel_bar.py
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def mail_update(_):
             colors['bg'] = color
             colors['fg'] = '#FFFFFF'
         mutt_config_path = os.path.expanduser('~/.mutt/{}'.format(account))
-        text = button(str(message_count), 'urxvt -e mutt -F {}'.format(mutt_config_path))
+        text = button(str(message_count), 'urxvt -e mutt -F {} &'.format(mutt_config_path))
         counts.append(color_string(text, **colors))
     return 'mail', ''.join(counts)