diff --git a/ur_robot_driver/include/ur_robot_driver/hardware_interface.hpp b/ur_robot_driver/include/ur_robot_driver/hardware_interface.hpp
index 14bdd29ea..c9f23e4f5 100644
--- a/ur_robot_driver/include/ur_robot_driver/hardware_interface.hpp
+++ b/ur_robot_driver/include/ur_robot_driver/hardware_interface.hpp
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ class URPositionHardwareInterface : public hardware_interface::SystemInterface
   hardware_interface::CallbackReturn on_configure(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state) final;
   hardware_interface::CallbackReturn on_activate(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state) final;
   hardware_interface::CallbackReturn on_cleanup(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state) final;
+  hardware_interface::CallbackReturn on_shutdown(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state) final;
 
   hardware_interface::return_type read(const rclcpp::Time& time, const rclcpp::Duration& period) final;
   hardware_interface::return_type write(const rclcpp::Time& time, const rclcpp::Duration& period) final;
@@ -154,6 +155,9 @@ class URPositionHardwareInterface : public hardware_interface::SystemInterface
   void readBitsetData(const std::unique_ptr<urcl::rtde_interface::DataPackage>& data_pkg, const std::string& var_name,
                       std::bitset<N>& data);
 
+  // stop function used by on_shutdown and on_cleanup
+  hardware_interface::CallbackReturn stop();
+
   void initAsyncIO();
   void checkAsyncIO();
   void updateNonDoubleValues();
diff --git a/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp b/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp
index 216d7d462..83cb87b2e 100644
--- a/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp
+++ b/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp
@@ -58,9 +58,6 @@ namespace ur_robot_driver
 
 URPositionHardwareInterface::~URPositionHardwareInterface()
 {
-  // If the controller manager is shutdown via Ctrl + C the on_deactivate methods won't be called.
-  // We therefore need to make sure to actually deactivate the communication
-  on_cleanup(rclcpp_lifecycle::State());
 }
 
 hardware_interface::CallbackReturn
@@ -592,6 +589,19 @@ URPositionHardwareInterface::on_activate(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous
 
 hardware_interface::CallbackReturn
 URPositionHardwareInterface::on_cleanup(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state)
+{
+  RCLCPP_DEBUG(rclcpp::get_logger("URPositionHardwareInterface"), "on_cleanup");
+  return stop();
+}
+
+hardware_interface::CallbackReturn
+URPositionHardwareInterface::on_shutdown(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state)
+{
+  RCLCPP_DEBUG(rclcpp::get_logger("URPositionHardwareInterface"), "on_shutdown");
+  return stop();
+}
+
+hardware_interface::CallbackReturn URPositionHardwareInterface::stop()
 {
   RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("URPositionHardwareInterface"), "Stopping ...please wait...");