diff --git a/cmd/workload-manager/main.go b/cmd/workload-manager/main.go
index b6f56a24..8dc27720 100644
--- a/cmd/workload-manager/main.go
+++ b/cmd/workload-manager/main.go
@@ -139,8 +139,26 @@ func main() {
 	select {
 	case <-sigCh:
 		klog.Info("Received shutdown signal, shutting down gracefully...")
+
+		// Create a shutdown context with a 15-second deadline
+		shutdownCtx, shutdownCancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 15*time.Second)
+		defer shutdownCancel()
+
+		// 1. Stop accepting new requests and drain in-flight ones
+		if err := server.Shutdown(shutdownCtx); err != nil {
+			klog.Errorf("server shutdown error: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		// 2. Cancel root context to stop background workers (GC, informers, controller manager)
 		cancel()
-		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second) // Give server time to shutdown gracefully
+
+		// 3. Wait for background workers to finish their current operations
+		server.WaitForBackgroundWorkers()
+
+		// 4. Close store connections after all workers have stopped
+		if err := server.CloseStore(); err != nil {
+			klog.Errorf("store close error: %v", err)
+		}
 	case err := <-errCh:
 		klog.Fatalf("Server error: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/router/session_manager_test.go b/pkg/router/session_manager_test.go
index bdf6d6b8..8740813b 100644
--- a/pkg/router/session_manager_test.go
+++ b/pkg/router/session_manager_test.go
@@ -94,6 +94,10 @@ func (f *fakeStoreClient) UpdateSandboxLastActivity(_ context.Context, _ string,
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (f *fakeStoreClient) Close() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
 // ---- tests: GetSandboxBySession ----
 
 func TestGetSandboxBySession_Success(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/store/interface.go b/pkg/store/interface.go
index 29c35f0c..72e74749 100644
--- a/pkg/store/interface.go
+++ b/pkg/store/interface.go
@@ -40,4 +40,6 @@ type Store interface {
 	ListInactiveSandboxes(ctx context.Context, before time.Time, limit int64) ([]*types.SandboxInfo, error)
 	// UpdateSessionLastActivity updates the last-activity index for the given session
 	UpdateSessionLastActivity(ctx context.Context, sessionID string, at time.Time) error
+	// Close releases all resources held by the store (e.g. connection pools)
+	Close() error
 }
diff --git a/pkg/store/store_redis.go b/pkg/store/store_redis.go
index 69bdd994..a1d60061 100644
--- a/pkg/store/store_redis.go
+++ b/pkg/store/store_redis.go
@@ -269,6 +269,11 @@ func (rs *redisStore) ListInactiveSandboxes(ctx context.Context, before time.Tim
 	return rs.loadSandboxesBySessionIDs(ctx, ids)
 }
 
+// Close releases all resources held by the redis store.
+func (rs *redisStore) Close() error {
+	return rs.cli.Close()
+}
+
 // UpdateSessionLastActivity updates the last-activity index for the given session.
 func (rs *redisStore) UpdateSessionLastActivity(ctx context.Context, sessionID string, at time.Time) error {
 	if sessionID == "" {
diff --git a/pkg/store/store_valkey.go b/pkg/store/store_valkey.go
index 31920a5a..4b8faff0 100644
--- a/pkg/store/store_valkey.go
+++ b/pkg/store/store_valkey.go
@@ -272,6 +272,12 @@ func (vs *valkeyStore) ListInactiveSandboxes(ctx context.Context, before time.Ti
 	return vs.loadSandboxesBySessionIDs(ctx, ids)
 }
 
+// Close releases all resources held by the valkey store.
+func (vs *valkeyStore) Close() error {
+	vs.cli.Close()
+	return nil
+}
+
 // UpdateSessionLastActivity updates the last-activity index for the given session
 func (vs *valkeyStore) UpdateSessionLastActivity(ctx context.Context, sessionID string, at time.Time) error {
 	if sessionID == "" {
diff --git a/pkg/workloadmanager/handlers_test.go b/pkg/workloadmanager/handlers_test.go
index 5fd0bb7e..a5f78712 100644
--- a/pkg/workloadmanager/handlers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/workloadmanager/handlers_test.go
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ func (f *fakeStore) ListInactiveSandboxes(_ context.Context, _ time.Time, _ int6
 func (f *fakeStore) UpdateSessionLastActivity(_ context.Context, _ string, _ time.Time) error {
 	return nil
 }
+func (f *fakeStore) Close() error { return nil }
 
 func readySandbox() *sandboxv1alpha1.Sandbox {
 	return &sandboxv1alpha1.Sandbox{
diff --git a/pkg/workloadmanager/server.go b/pkg/workloadmanager/server.go
index d4199829..5b873b8f 100644
--- a/pkg/workloadmanager/server.go
+++ b/pkg/workloadmanager/server.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ type Server struct {
 	tokenCache        *TokenCache
 	informers         *Informers
 	storeClient       store.Store
+	wg                sync.WaitGroup
 }
 
 type Config struct {
@@ -130,7 +132,7 @@ func (s *Server) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 
 	// Create HTTP/2 server for better performance
 	h2s := &http2.Server{}
-	
+
 	// Wrap handler with h2c for HTTP/2 cleartext support
 	h2cHandler := h2c.NewHandler(s.router, h2s)
 
@@ -141,21 +143,14 @@ func (s *Server) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 		IdleTimeout: 90 * time.Second, // golang http default transport's idletimeout is 90s
 	}
 
-	// Listen for shutdown signal in goroutine
-	go func() {
-		<-ctx.Done()
-		klog.Info("Shutting down server...")
-		shutdownCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
-		defer cancel()
-		if err := s.httpServer.Shutdown(shutdownCtx); err != nil {
-			klog.Errorf("Server shutdown error: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
-
 	klog.Infof("Server listening on %s", addr)
 
 	gc := newGarbageCollector(s.k8sClient, s.storeClient, 15*time.Second)
-	go gc.run(ctx.Done())
+	s.wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer s.wg.Done()
+		gc.run(ctx.Done())
+	}()
 
 	// Start HTTP or HTTPS server
 	if s.config.EnableTLS {
@@ -168,6 +163,38 @@ func (s *Server) Start(ctx context.Context) error {
 	return s.httpServer.ListenAndServe()
 }
 
+// Shutdown performs graceful shutdown of the HTTP server.
+func (s *Server) Shutdown(ctx context.Context) error {
+	if s.httpServer != nil {
+		klog.Info("Shutting down HTTP server...")
+		if err := s.httpServer.Shutdown(ctx); err != nil {
+			klog.Errorf("HTTP server shutdown error: %v", err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("HTTP server shutdown: %w", err)
+		}
+		klog.Info("HTTP server stopped")
+	} else {
+		klog.Info("HTTP server not initialized, skipping HTTP shutdown")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// WaitForBackgroundWorkers blocks until all background workers (e.g. garbage collector)
+// have finished their current operations and exited.
+func (s *Server) WaitForBackgroundWorkers() {
+	s.wg.Wait()
+}
+
+// CloseStore releases all resources held by the store (e.g. connection pools).
+func (s *Server) CloseStore() error {
+	klog.Info("Closing store connections...")
+	if err := s.storeClient.Close(); err != nil {
+		klog.Errorf("store close error: %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("store close: %w", err)
+	}
+	klog.Info("Store connections closed")
+	return nil
+}
+
 // loggingMiddleware logs each request (except /health)
 func (s *Server) loggingMiddleware(c *gin.Context) {
 	start := time.Now()