diff --git a/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c b/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c
--- a/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c
+++ b/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@
 	 * deadlock than to lock against code that won't ever
 	 * continue.
 	 */
-	while (mtx_owned(&Giant))
+	while (!SCHEDULER_STOPPED() && mtx_owned(&Giant))
 		mtx_unlock(&Giant);
 
 #if defined(SMP)