diff --git a/.changelog/3756.txt b/.changelog/3756.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cdb0e318e7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/3756.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:bug
+core/runner: Server no longer panics when a runner stopped after it is forgotten.
+```
diff --git a/internal/server/boltdbstate/runner.go b/internal/server/boltdbstate/runner.go
index 754ef621ed5..89ae6911e88 100644
--- a/internal/server/boltdbstate/runner.go
+++ b/internal/server/boltdbstate/runner.go
@@ -304,8 +304,7 @@ func (s *State) runnerSetAdoptionState(
 func (s *State) runnerOffline(dbTxn *bolt.Tx, memTxn *memdb.Txn, id string) error {
 	r, err := s.runnerById(dbTxn, id)
 	if status.Code(err) == codes.NotFound {
-		r = nil
-		err = nil
+		return nil
 	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return err