diff --git a/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb b/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb
index f28d04e0e98..bde8d3bff4d 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/inputs/base.rb
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ class LogStash::Inputs::Base < LogStash::Plugin
   def initialize(params={})
     super
     @threadable = false
+    @stop_called = Concurrent::AtomicBoolean.new(false)
     config_init(params)
     @tags ||= []
 
@@ -100,6 +101,20 @@ def tag(newtag)
     @tags << newtag
   end # def tag
 
+  # if you override stop, don't forget to call super
+  # as the first action
+  public
+  def stop
+    @logger.debug("stopping", :plugin => self)
+    @stop_called.make_true
+  end
+
+  # stop? should never be overriden
+  public
+  def stop?
+    @stop_called.value
+  end
+
   protected
   def to_event(raw, source)
     raise LogStash::ThisMethodWasRemoved("LogStash::Inputs::Base#to_event - you should use codecs now instead of to_event. Not sure what this means? Get help on https://discuss.elastic.co/c/logstash")
diff --git a/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb b/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb
index 0089e3f1688..fa1a806cd61 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/pipeline.rb
@@ -175,9 +175,16 @@ def inputworker(plugin)
     LogStash::Util::set_thread_name("<#{plugin.class.config_name}")
     begin
       plugin.run(@input_to_filter)
-    rescue LogStash::ShutdownSignal
-      # ignore and quit
     rescue => e
+      # if plugin is stopping, ignore uncatched exceptions and exit worker
+      if plugin.stop?
+        @logger.debug("Input plugin raised exception during shutdown, ignoring it.",
+                      :plugin => plugin.class.config_name, :exception => e,
+                      :backtrace => e.backtrace)
+        return
+      end
+
+      # otherwise, report error and restart
       if @logger.debug?
         @logger.error(I18n.t("logstash.pipeline.worker-error-debug",
                              :plugin => plugin.inspect, :error => e.to_s,
@@ -187,23 +194,13 @@ def inputworker(plugin)
         @logger.error(I18n.t("logstash.pipeline.worker-error",
                              :plugin => plugin.inspect, :error => e))
       end
-      puts e.backtrace if @logger.debug?
-      # input teardown must be synchronized since is can be called concurrently by
-      # the input worker thread and from the pipeline thread shutdown method.
-      # this means that input teardown methods must support multiple calls.
-      @run_mutex.synchronize{plugin.teardown}
-      sleep 1
-      retry
-    end
-  ensure
-    begin
-      # input teardown must be synchronized since is can be called concurrently by
-      # the input worker thread and from the pipeline thread shutdown method.
-      # this means that input teardown methods must support multiple calls.
-      @run_mutex.synchronize{plugin.teardown}
-    rescue LogStash::ShutdownSignal
-      # teardown could receive the ShutdownSignal, retry it
+
+      # Assuming the failure that caused this exception is transient,
+      # let's sleep for a bit and execute #run again
+      sleep(1)
       retry
+    ensure
+      plugin.teardown
     end
   end # def inputworker
 
@@ -242,8 +239,8 @@ def outputworker
       event = @filter_to_output.pop
       break if event == LogStash::SHUTDOWN
       output_func(event)
-    end # while true
-
+    end
+  ensure
     @outputs.each do |output|
       output.worker_plugins.each(&:teardown)
     end
@@ -255,21 +252,6 @@ def outputworker
   def shutdown
     InflightEventsReporter.logger = @logger
     InflightEventsReporter.start(@input_to_filter, @filter_to_output, @outputs)
-    @input_threads.each do |thread|
-      # Interrupt all inputs
-      @logger.info("Sending shutdown signal to input thread", :thread => thread)
-
-      # synchronize both ShutdownSignal and teardown below. by synchronizing both
-      # we will avoid potentially sending a shutdown signal when the inputworker is
-      # executing the teardown method.
-      @run_mutex.synchronize do
-        thread.raise(LogStash::ShutdownSignal)
-        begin
-          thread.wakeup # in case it's in blocked IO or sleeping
-        rescue ThreadError
-        end
-      end
-    end
 
     # sometimes an input is stuck in a blocking I/O so we need to tell it to teardown directly
     @inputs.each do |input|
@@ -277,15 +259,12 @@ def shutdown
         # input teardown must be synchronized since is can be called concurrently by
         # the input worker thread and from the pipeline thread shutdown method.
         # this means that input teardown methods must support multiple calls.
-        @run_mutex.synchronize{input.teardown}
+        @run_mutex.synchronize{input.stop}
       rescue LogStash::ShutdownSignal
         # teardown could receive the ShutdownSignal, retry it
         retry
       end
     end
-
-    # No need to send the ShutdownEvent to the filters/outputs nor to wait for
-    # the inputs to finish, because in the #run method we wait for that anyway.
   end # def shutdown
 
   def plugin(plugin_type, name, *args)
diff --git a/lib/logstash/plugin.rb b/lib/logstash/plugin.rb
index 76d3eeb43fb..1949fa6f277 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/plugin.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/plugin.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 require "logstash/logging"
 require "logstash/config/mixin"
 require "cabin"
+require "concurrent"
 
 class LogStash::Plugin
   attr_accessor :params
@@ -27,72 +28,14 @@ def initialize(params=nil)
     @logger = Cabin::Channel.get(LogStash)
   end
 
-  # This method is called when someone or something wants this plugin to shut
-  # down. When you successfully shutdown, you must call 'finished'
-  # You must also call 'super' in any subclasses.
-  public
-  def shutdown(queue)
-    # By default, shutdown is assumed a no-op for all plugins.
-    # If you need to take special efforts to shutdown (like waiting for
-    # an operation to complete, etc)
-    teardown
-    @logger.info("Received shutdown signal", :plugin => self)
-
-    @shutdown_queue = queue
-    if @plugin_state == :finished
-      finished
-    else
-      @plugin_state = :terminating
-    end
-  end # def shutdown
-
-  # You should call this method when you (the plugin) are done with work
-  # forever.
-  public
-  def finished
-    # TODO(sissel): I'm not sure what I had planned for this shutdown_queue
-    # thing
-    if @shutdown_queue
-      @logger.info("Sending shutdown event to agent queue", :plugin => self)
-      @shutdown_queue << self
-    end
-
-    if @plugin_state != :finished
-      @logger.info("Plugin is finished", :plugin => self)
-      @plugin_state = :finished
-    end
-  end # def finished
-
   # Subclasses should implement this teardown method if you need to perform any
   # special tasks during shutdown (like flushing, etc.)
+  # if you override teardown, don't forget to call super
   public
   def teardown
-    # nothing by default
-    finished
+    @logger.debug("closing", :plugin => self)
   end
 
-  # This method is called when a SIGHUP triggers a reload operation
-  public
-  def reload
-    # Do nothing by default
-  end
-
-  public
-  def finished?
-    return @plugin_state == :finished
-  end # def finished?
-
-  public
-  def running?
-    return @plugin_state != :finished
-  end # def finished?
-
-  public
-  def terminating?
-    return @plugin_state == :terminating
-  end # def terminating?
-
-  public
   def to_s
     return "#{self.class.name}: #{@params}"
   end
diff --git a/logstash-core.gemspec b/logstash-core.gemspec
index 2df64952a60..709218163d6 100644
--- a/logstash-core.gemspec
+++ b/logstash-core.gemspec
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |gem|
   gem.add_runtime_dependency "clamp", "~> 0.6.5" #(MIT license) for command line args/flags
   gem.add_runtime_dependency "filesize", "0.0.4" #(MIT license) for :bytes config validator
   gem.add_runtime_dependency "gems", "~> 0.8.3"  #(MIT license)
+  gem.add_runtime_dependency "concurrent-ruby", "~> 0.9.1"
 
   # TODO(sissel): Treetop 1.5.x doesn't seem to work well, but I haven't
   # investigated what the cause might be. -Jordan