diff --git a/flycheck-vale.el b/flycheck-vale.el
index 2436d14..817aede 100644
--- a/flycheck-vale.el
+++ b/flycheck-vale.el
@@ -60,39 +60,88 @@
 
 (defconst flycheck-vale-modes '(text-mode markdown-mode rst-mode org-mode))
 
+(defcustom flycheck-vale-output-buffer "*flycheck-vale*"
+  "Buffer where tool output gets written."
+  :type '(string)
+  :group 'flycheck-vale)
+
 (defvar-local flycheck-vale-enabled t
   "Buffer-local variable determining if flycheck-vale should be applied.")
 
 (defconst flycheck-vale--level-map
   '(("error" . error)
-    ("suggestion" . info)
     ("warning" . warning)))
 
-(defun flycheck-vale--output-to-errors (output checker buffer)
+(defun flycheck-vale--issue-to-error (issue)
+  "Parse a single vale issue, ISSUE, into a flycheck error struct.
+
+We only fill in what we can get from the vale issue directly. The
+rest (e.g. filename) gets filled in elsewhere."
+  (let-alist issue
+    (flycheck-error-new
+     :line .Line
+     :column (elt .Span 0)
+     :message .Message
+     :level (assoc-default .Severity flycheck-vale--level-map 'string-equal 'error))))
+
+(defun flycheck-vale--output-to-errors (output)
   "Parse the full JSON output of vale, OUTPUT, into a sequence of flycheck error structs."
-  (let* ((issues (cdar (json-read-from-string output)))
-		 (filename (buffer-file-name buffer)))
-	(mapcar (lambda (issue)
-		 (let-alist issue
-		   (flycheck-error-new
-			:buffer buffer
-			:filename filename
-			:checker checker
-			:line .Line
-			:column (elt .Span 0)
-			:message .Message
-			:level (assoc-default .Severity flycheck-vale--level-map 'string-equal 'error)
-			:id .Check)))
-	   issues)))
+  (let* ((full-results (json-read-from-string output))
 
-(flycheck-def-executable-var vale "vale")
+         ;; Get the list of issues for each file.
+         (result-vecs (mapcar 'cdr full-results))
 
-(flycheck-define-command-checker 'vale
-  "A flycheck checker using vale natural language linting."
-  :command '("vale" "--output" "JSON" source)
-  :error-parser #'flycheck-vale--output-to-errors
-  :predicate (lambda () flycheck-vale-enabled)
-  :modes flycheck-vale-modes)
+         ;; Chain all of the issues together. The point here, really, is that we
+         ;; don't expect results from more than one file, but we should be
+         ;; prepared for the theoretical possibility that the issues are somehow
+         ;; split across multiple files. This is basically a punt in lieu of
+         ;; more information.
+         (issues (apply 'append (mapcar 'cdr full-results))))
+    (mapcar 'flycheck-vale--issue-to-error issues)))
+
+(defun flycheck-vale--handle-finished (checker callback buf)
+  "Parse the contents of the output buffer into flycheck error
+structures, attaching CHECKER and BUF to the structures, and
+passing the results to CALLBACK."
+  (let* ((output (with-current-buffer flycheck-vale-output-buffer (buffer-string)))
+         (errors (flycheck-vale--output-to-errors output)))
+    ;; Fill in the rest of the error struct database
+    (cl-loop for err in errors do
+          (setf
+           (flycheck-error-buffer err) buf
+           (flycheck-error-filename err) (buffer-file-name buf)
+           (flycheck-error-checker err) checker))
+    (funcall callback 'finished errors)))
+
+(defun flycheck-vale--normal-completion? (event)
+  (or  (string-equal event "finished\n")
+       (string-match "exited abnormally with code 1.*" event)))
+
+(defun flycheck-vale--start (checker callback)
+  "Run vale on the current buffer's contents with CHECKER, passing the results to CALLBACK."
+
+  ;; Clear the output buffer
+  (with-current-buffer (get-buffer-create flycheck-vale-output-buffer)
+    (read-only-mode 0)
+    (erase-buffer))
+
+  (let* ((process-connection-type nil)
+         (proc (start-process "flycheck-vale-process"
+                              flycheck-vale-output-buffer
+                              flycheck-vale-program
+                              "--output"
+                              "JSON")))
+    (let ((checker checker)
+          (callback callback)
+          (buf (current-buffer)))
+      (set-process-sentinel
+       proc
+       #'(lambda (process event)
+           (when (flycheck-vale--normal-completion? event)
+             (flycheck-vale--handle-finished checker callback buf)))))
+
+    (process-send-region proc (point-min) (point-max))
+    (process-send-eof proc)))
 
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun flycheck-vale-setup ()
@@ -107,6 +156,12 @@ This adds the vale checker to the list of flycheck checkers."
   (interactive)
   (setq flycheck-vale-enabled (not flycheck-vale-enabled)))
 
+(flycheck-define-generic-checker 'vale
+  "A flycheck checker using vale natural language linting."
+  :start #'flycheck-vale--start
+  :predicate (lambda () flycheck-vale-enabled)
+  :modes flycheck-vale-modes)
+
 (provide 'flycheck-vale)
 
 ;;; flycheck-vale.el ends here