diff --git a/src/ripple/nodestore/impl/Database.cpp b/src/ripple/nodestore/impl/Database.cpp
index 15aad0a02a3..ba07fa8a5e1 100644
--- a/src/ripple/nodestore/impl/Database.cpp
+++ b/src/ripple/nodestore/impl/Database.cpp
@@ -73,22 +73,26 @@ Database::Database(
                     {
                         std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(readLock_);
 
-                        if (read_.empty())
+                        // We need to check whether we're stopping again to
+                        // avoid a race condition that can stall this thread
+                        // during shutdown.
+                        if (read_.empty() && !isStopping())
                         {
                             runningThreads_--;
                             readCondVar_.wait(lock);
                             runningThreads_++;
                         }
 
-                        if (isStopping())
-                            continue;
-
-                        // If configured, extract multiple object at a time to
-                        // minimize the overhead of acquiring the mutex.
-                        for (int cnt = 0;
-                             !read_.empty() && cnt != requestBundle_;
-                             ++cnt)
-                            read.insert(read_.extract(read_.begin()));
+                        // If we are not stopping then extract multiple object
+                        // at a time to minimize the overhead of acquiring the
+                        // mutex.
+                        if (!isStopping())
+                        {
+                            for (int cnt = 0;
+                                 !read_.empty() && cnt != requestBundle_;
+                                 ++cnt)
+                                read.insert(read_.extract(read_.begin()));
+                        }
                     }
 
                     for (auto it = read.begin(); it != read.end(); ++it)
@@ -120,6 +124,7 @@ Database::Database(
                     read.clear();
                 }
 
+                --runningThreads_;
                 --readThreads_;
             },
             i);
@@ -160,15 +165,34 @@ Database::maxLedgers(std::uint32_t shardIndex) const noexcept
 void
 Database::stop()
 {
-    if (!readStopping_.exchange(true, std::memory_order_relaxed))
     {
         std::lock_guard lock(readLock_);
-        read_.clear();
-        readCondVar_.notify_all();
+
+        if (!readStopping_.exchange(true, std::memory_order_relaxed))
+        {
+            JLOG(j_.debug()) << "Clearing read queue because of stop request";
+            read_.clear();
+            readCondVar_.notify_all();
+        }
     }
 
+    JLOG(j_.debug()) << "Waiting for stop request to complete...";
+
+    using namespace std::chrono;
+
+    auto const start = steady_clock::now();
+
     while (readThreads_.load() != 0)
+    {
+        assert(steady_clock::now() - start < 30s);
         std::this_thread::yield();
+    }
+
+    JLOG(j_.debug()) << "Stop request completed in "
+                     << duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(
+                            steady_clock::now() - start)
+                            .count()
+                     << " millseconds";
 }
 
 void
@@ -177,10 +201,16 @@ Database::asyncFetch(
     std::uint32_t ledgerSeq,
     std::function<void(std::shared_ptr<NodeObject> const&)>&& cb)
 {
-    // Post a read
-    std::lock_guard lock(readLock_);
-    read_[hash].emplace_back(ledgerSeq, std::move(cb));
-    readCondVar_.notify_one();
+    if (!isStopping())
+    {
+        std::lock_guard lock(readLock_);
+
+        if (!isStopping())
+        {
+            read_[hash].emplace_back(ledgerSeq, std::move(cb));
+            readCondVar_.notify_one();
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 void