diff --git a/changelog/442.feature.rst b/changelog/442.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..700b012e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/442.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Compatibility fix for upcoming pytest 5.0: ``session.exitstatus`` is now an ``IntEnum`` object.
diff --git a/src/xdist/remote.py b/src/xdist/remote.py
index d87ff4cf..d06096cb 100644
--- a/src/xdist/remote.py
+++ b/src/xdist/remote.py
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ def pytest_sessionstart(self, session):
 
     @pytest.hookimpl(hookwrapper=True)
     def pytest_sessionfinish(self, exitstatus):
-        self.config.workeroutput["exitstatus"] = exitstatus
+        # in pytest 5.0+, exitstatus is an IntEnum object
+        self.config.workeroutput["exitstatus"] = int(exitstatus)
         yield
         self.sendevent("workerfinished", workeroutput=self.config.workeroutput)