diff --git a/src/db.cpp b/src/db.cpp
index 78860ebb9..d1f9758ea 100644
--- a/src/db.cpp
+++ b/src/db.cpp
@@ -1198,7 +1198,7 @@ void shutdownCommand(client *c) {
      * Also when in Sentinel mode clear the SAVE flag and force NOSAVE. */
     if (g_pserver->loading || g_pserver->sentinel_mode)
         flags = (flags & ~SHUTDOWN_SAVE) | SHUTDOWN_NOSAVE;
-    if (prepareForShutdown(flags) == C_OK) exit(0);
+    if (prepareForShutdown(flags) == C_OK) throw ShutdownException();
     addReplyError(c,"Errors trying to SHUTDOWN. Check logs.");
 }
 
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 637e30650..e4d3ffa80 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -2027,7 +2027,7 @@ int serverCron(struct aeEventLoop *eventLoop, long long id, void *clientData) {
     /* We received a SIGTERM, shutting down here in a safe way, as it is
      * not ok doing so inside the signal handler. */
     if (g_pserver->shutdown_asap) {
-        if (prepareForShutdown(SHUTDOWN_NOFLAGS) == C_OK) exit(0);
+        if (prepareForShutdown(SHUTDOWN_NOFLAGS) == C_OK) throw ShutdownException();
         serverLog(LL_WARNING,"SIGTERM received but errors trying to shut down the server, check the logs for more information");
         g_pserver->shutdown_asap = 0;
     }
@@ -4027,23 +4027,16 @@ int prepareForShutdown(int flags) {
     /* Close the listening sockets. Apparently this allows faster restarts. */
     closeListeningSockets(1);
 
-    for (int ithread = 0; ithread < MAX_EVENT_LOOPS; ++ithread) {
-        for (int idb = 0; idb < cserver.dbnum; ++idb) {
-            if (g_pserver->rgthreadvar[ithread].rgdbSnapshot[idb] != nullptr)
-                g_pserver->db[idb]->endSnapshot(g_pserver->rgthreadvar[ithread].rgdbSnapshot[idb]);
-        }
+    for (int iel = 0; iel < cserver.cthreads; ++iel)
+    {
+        aePostFunction(g_pserver->rgthreadvar[iel].el, [iel]{
+            g_pserver->rgthreadvar[iel].el->stop = 1;
+        });
     }
 
-    /* free our databases */
-    for (int idb = 0; idb < cserver.dbnum; ++idb) {
-        delete g_pserver->db[idb];
-        g_pserver->db[idb] = nullptr;
-    }
-
-    delete g_pserver->m_pstorageFactory;
-
     serverLog(LL_WARNING,"%s is now ready to exit, bye bye...",
         g_pserver->sentinel_mode ? "Sentinel" : "KeyDB");
+
     return C_OK;
 }
 
@@ -5352,8 +5345,23 @@ void *workerThreadMain(void *parg)
     aeEventLoop *el = g_pserver->rgthreadvar[iel].el;
     aeSetBeforeSleepProc(el, beforeSleep, AE_SLEEP_THREADSAFE);
     aeSetAfterSleepProc(el, afterSleep, AE_SLEEP_THREADSAFE);
-    aeMain(el);
+    try
+    {
+        aeMain(el);
+    }
+    catch (ShutdownException)
+    {
+    }
+    serverAssert(!GlobalLocksAcquired());
     aeDeleteEventLoop(el);
+
+    aeAcquireLock();
+    for (int idb = 0; idb < cserver.dbnum; ++idb) {
+        if (g_pserver->rgthreadvar[iel].rgdbSnapshot[idb] != nullptr)
+            g_pserver->db[idb]->endSnapshot(g_pserver->rgthreadvar[iel].rgdbSnapshot[idb]);
+    }
+    aeReleaseLock();
+
     return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -5665,7 +5673,18 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     /* The main thread sleeps until all the workers are done.
         this is so that all worker threads are orthogonal in their startup/shutdown */
     void *pvRet;
-    pthread_join(rgthread[IDX_EVENT_LOOP_MAIN], &pvRet);
+    for (int iel = 0; iel < cserver.cthreads; ++iel)
+        pthread_join(rgthread[iel], &pvRet);
+
+    /* free our databases */
+    for (int idb = 0; idb < cserver.dbnum; ++idb) {
+        delete g_pserver->db[idb];
+        g_pserver->db[idb] = nullptr;
+    }
+
+    g_pserver->garbageCollector.shutdown();
+    delete g_pserver->m_pstorageFactory;
+
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 5077a9ddd..28dcf509e 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -3405,6 +3405,10 @@ void tlsInit(void);
 void tlsInitThread();
 int tlsConfigure(redisTLSContextConfig *ctx_config);
 
+
+class ShutdownException
+{};
+
 #define redisDebug(fmt, ...) \
     printf("DEBUG %s:%d > " fmt "\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __VA_ARGS__)
 #define redisDebugMark() \