Calls to error () can cause SIGTTOU to send gdb to the background.
For example, on an Arm build:
(gdb) b main
Breakpoint 1 at 0x10774: file /build/gdb/testsuite/../../../src/binutils-gdb/gdb/testsuite/gdb.base/watchpoint.c, line 174.
(gdb) r
Starting program: /build/gdb/testsuite/outputs/gdb.base/watchpoint/watchpoint