diff --git a/arangod/Cluster/HeartbeatThread.cpp b/arangod/Cluster/HeartbeatThread.cpp
index 9bed1d93f5..af42ac8bc1 100644
--- a/arangod/Cluster/HeartbeatThread.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Cluster/HeartbeatThread.cpp
@@ -825,7 +825,10 @@ void HeartbeatThread::syncDBServerStatusQuo() {
   _backgroundJobScheduledOrRunning = true;
 
   // the JobGuard is in the operator() of HeartbeatBackgroundJob
-  _ioService->post(HeartbeatBackgroundJob(shared_from_this(), TRI_microtime()));
+  if (!isStopping() && !_ioService->stopped()) {
+    _ioService->
+      post(HeartbeatBackgroundJob(shared_from_this(), TRI_microtime()));
+  }
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////