diff --git a/arangod/Agency/Supervision.cpp b/arangod/Agency/Supervision.cpp
index 4ce0239f91..4f48397659 100644
--- a/arangod/Agency/Supervision.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Agency/Supervision.cpp
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ Supervision::~Supervision() {
 }
 
 static std::string const syncPrefix = "/Sync/ServerStates/";
+static std::string const supervisionPrefix = "/Supervision";
 static std::string const healthPrefix = "/Supervision/Health/";
 static std::string const planDBServersPrefix = "/Plan/DBServers";
 static std::string const planCoordinatorsPrefix = "/Plan/Coordinators";
@@ -485,6 +486,9 @@ void Supervision::run() {
   // First wait until somebody has initialized the ArangoDB data, before
   // that running the supervision does not make sense and will indeed
   // lead to horrible errors:
+
+  std::string const supervisionNode = _agencyPrefix + supervisionPrefix;
+
   while (!this->isStopping()) {
     {
       CONDITION_LOCKER(guard, _cv);
@@ -492,9 +496,9 @@ void Supervision::run() {
     }
     
     MUTEX_LOCKER(locker, _lock);
-    if (_agent->readDB().has(_agencyPrefix)) {
+    if (_agent->readDB().has(supervisionNode)) {
       try {
-        _snapshot = _agent->readDB().get(_agencyPrefix);
+        _snapshot = _agent->readDB().get(supervisionNode);
         if (_snapshot.children().size() > 0) {
           break;
         }
diff --git a/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp b/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp
index f374b81c74..80a2c1234b 100644
--- a/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp
@@ -126,6 +126,13 @@ void SocketTask::addWriteBuffer(WriteBuffer& buffer) {
     return;
   }
 
+  if (application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
+    LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "aborting because shutdown is in progress";
+    closeStream();
+    buffer.release();
+    return;
+  }
+
   {
     auto self = shared_from_this();
 
@@ -162,6 +169,10 @@ void SocketTask::writeWriteBuffer() {
   err.clear();
 
   while (true) {
+    if (application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
+      break;
+    }
+
     RequestStatistics::SET_WRITE_START(_writeBuffer._statistics);
     written = _peer->write(_writeBuffer._buffer, err);
 
@@ -186,6 +197,12 @@ void SocketTask::writeWriteBuffer() {
     written = 0;
   }
 
+  if (application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
+    LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "aborting because shutdown is in progress";
+    closeStreamNoLock();
+    return;
+  }
+
   // write could have blocked which is the only acceptable error
   if (err && err != ::boost::asio::error::would_block) {
     LOG_TOPIC(DEBUG, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "write on stream failed with: "
@@ -210,6 +227,10 @@ void SocketTask::writeWriteBuffer() {
                         LOG_TOPIC(DEBUG, Logger::COMMUNICATION)
                             << "write on stream failed with: " << ec.message();
                         closeStreamNoLock();
+                      } else if (application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
+                        LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "aborting because shutdown is in progress";
+                        closeStreamNoLock();
+                        return;
                       } else {
                         if (completedWriteBuffer()) {
                           _loop._scheduler->post([self, this]() {
@@ -240,7 +261,7 @@ bool SocketTask::completedWriteBuffer() {
   return true;
 }
 
-// caller must hold the _writeLock
+// caller must not hold the _writeLock
 void SocketTask::closeStream() {
   MUTEX_LOCKER(locker, _writeLock);
   closeStreamNoLock();
@@ -408,6 +429,12 @@ void SocketTask::asyncReadSome() {
     size_t n = 0;
 
     while (++n <= MAX_DIRECT_TRIES) {
+      if (application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
+        LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "aborting because shutdown is in progress";
+        closeStream();
+        return;
+      }
+      
       if (!reserveMemory()) {
         LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "failed to reserve memory";
         return;
@@ -466,10 +493,14 @@ void SocketTask::asyncReadSome() {
             LOG_TOPIC(DEBUG, Logger::COMMUNICATION)
                 << "read on stream failed with: " << ec.message();
             closeStream();
+          } else if (application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
+            LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::COMMUNICATION) << "aborting because shutdown is in progress";
+            closeStream();
+            return;
           } else {
             _readBuffer.increaseLength(transferred);
 
-            if (processAll()) {
+            if (processAll() && ! application_features::ApplicationServer::isStopping()) {
               _loop._scheduler->post([self, this]() { asyncReadSome(); });
             }
 
diff --git a/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.cpp b/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.cpp
index b639902b01..f6d4dadae6 100644
--- a/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.cpp
+++ b/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.cpp
@@ -239,6 +239,8 @@ void ApplicationServer::run(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 void ApplicationServer::beginShutdown() {
   LOG_TOPIC(TRACE, Logger::STARTUP) << "ApplicationServer::beginShutdown";
 
+  _stopping = true;
+
   // fowards the begin shutdown signal to all features
   for (auto it = _orderedFeatures.rbegin(); it != _orderedFeatures.rend();
        ++it) {
@@ -254,7 +256,6 @@ void ApplicationServer::beginShutdown() {
     }
   }
 
-  _stopping = true;
   // TODO: use condition variable for signaling shutdown
   // to run method
 }
diff --git a/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.h b/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.h
index 68f60b4310..343831689c 100644
--- a/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.h
+++ b/lib/ApplicationFeatures/ApplicationServer.h
@@ -127,9 +127,11 @@ class ApplicationServer {
   };
 
   static ApplicationServer* server;
+
   static bool isStopping() {
     return server != nullptr && server->_stopping.load();
   }
+
   static bool isPrepared() {
     return server != nullptr && (server->_state == ServerState::IN_START ||
                                  server->_state == ServerState::IN_WAIT ||
diff --git a/scripts/startLocalCluster.ps1 b/scripts/startLocalCluster.ps1
index 33b2d3598e..dc1c4f3ae6 100644
--- a/scripts/startLocalCluster.ps1
+++ b/scripts/startLocalCluster.ps1
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ New-Item -Path cluster -Force -ItemType Directory | Out-Null
 
 $agentArguments = @(
     "--agency.activate=true",
+    "--agency.supervision=true",
     "--agency.size=$AgentCount",
     "--javascript.v8-contexts=1",
     "--server.statistics=false",