diff --git a/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.c b/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.c
index 2aca5d29c..f709eab9d 100644
--- a/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.c
+++ b/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 // global base allocator used by all providers and pools
 static UTIL_ONCE_FLAG ba_is_initialized = UTIL_ONCE_FLAG_INIT;
+static bool ba_is_destroyed = false;
 
 #define ALLOC_METADATA_SIZE (sizeof(size_t))
 
@@ -40,6 +41,8 @@ struct base_alloc_t {
 static struct base_alloc_t BASE_ALLOC = {.ac_sizes = ALLOCATION_CLASSES};
 
 void umf_ba_destroy_global(void) {
+    ba_is_destroyed = true;
+
     for (int i = 0; i < NUM_ALLOCATION_CLASSES; i++) {
         if (BASE_ALLOC.ac[i]) {
             umf_ba_destroy(BASE_ALLOC.ac[i]);
@@ -48,10 +51,12 @@ void umf_ba_destroy_global(void) {
     }
 
     // portable version of "ba_is_initialized = UTIL_ONCE_FLAG_INIT;"
-    static UTIL_ONCE_FLAG is_initialized = UTIL_ONCE_FLAG_INIT;
-    memcpy(&ba_is_initialized, &is_initialized, sizeof(ba_is_initialized));
+    static UTIL_ONCE_FLAG set_once = UTIL_ONCE_FLAG_INIT;
+    memcpy(&ba_is_initialized, &set_once, sizeof(ba_is_initialized));
 }
 
+bool umf_ba_global_is_destroyed(void) { return ba_is_destroyed; }
+
 static void umf_ba_create_global(void) {
     for (int i = 0; i < NUM_ALLOCATION_CLASSES; i++) {
         // allocation classes need to be powers of 2
@@ -202,6 +207,11 @@ void umf_ba_global_free(void *ptr) {
         return;
     }
 
+    if (ba_is_destroyed) {
+        LOG_WARN("base_alloc: calling free after the base alloc is destroyed");
+        return;
+    }
+
     size_t total_size;
     ptr = get_original_alloc(ptr, &total_size, NULL);
 
diff --git a/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.h b/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.h
index ad7f12ce5..bd55d352f 100644
--- a/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.h
+++ b/src/base_alloc/base_alloc_global.h
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #ifndef UMF_BASE_ALLOC_GLOBAL_H
 #define UMF_BASE_ALLOC_GLOBAL_H 1
 
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
 #include "base_alloc.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
@@ -17,6 +19,7 @@ extern "C" {
 void *umf_ba_global_alloc(size_t size);
 void umf_ba_global_free(void *ptr);
 void umf_ba_destroy_global(void);
+bool umf_ba_global_is_destroyed(void);
 size_t umf_ba_global_malloc_usable_size(void *ptr);
 void *umf_ba_global_aligned_alloc(size_t size, size_t alignment);