diff --git a/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim b/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim
index 6d58875c48..98a170972d 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim
@@ -2506,8 +2506,7 @@ proc run(node: BeaconNode) {.raises: [CatchableError].} =
   asyncSpawn runQueueProcessingLoop(node.blockProcessor)
   asyncSpawn runKeystoreCachePruningLoop(node.keystoreCache)
 
-  while not ProcessState.stopIt(notice("Shutting down", reason = it)):
-    poll()
+  waitFor ProcessState.waitStopSignals()
 
   # time to say goodbye
   node.stop()
diff --git a/beacon_chain/process_state.nim b/beacon_chain/process_state.nim
index 8d525ad96f..b831ba37b4 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/process_state.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/process_state.nim
@@ -22,20 +22,14 @@
 ## * The main thread wakes up any threads it started and notifies them of the
 ##   imminent shutdown then waits for them to terminate
 ##
-## `chronos` has a `waitSignal` function that could be use to wake it when a
-## signal arrives - at the time of writing, it only works in a single-threaded
-## application when chronos is the only signal handler and requires using
-## its own raising mechanism instead of the standard `raise`/`pthread_kill`
-## functions which makes it difficult to use:
-## https://github.com/status-im/nim-chronos/issues/581
-##
-## As such, polling `ProcessState.stopping` ends up being the more reliable
-## cross-platform solution in spite of its downsides.
+## In this way, the main thread is notified that _some_ thread or the user wants
+## the process to shut down. The main thread stops whatever it's doing and
+## notifies all threads it started that shutdown is imminent and then proceeds
+## with the shutdown.
 
 {.push raises: [].}
 
-import std/atomics, results
-
+import std/atomics, results, chronos, chronos/threadsync, chronicles
 export results
 
 type ProcessState* {.pure.} = enum
@@ -48,21 +42,56 @@ var shutdownSource: Atomic[pointer]
 
 import system/ansi_c
 
+when defined(posix):
+  import posix
+
+  when defined(linux):
+    var signalTarget = pthread_self()
+
+  proc ignoreStopSignalsInThread*(_: type ProcessState): bool =
+    # Block signals in the current thread and all threads created from it
+    # (hopefully)
+    var signalMask, oldSignalMask: Sigset
+
+    sigemptyset(signalMask) == 0 and sigaddset(signalMask, posix.SIGINT) == 0 and
+      sigaddset(signalMask, posix.SIGTERM) == 0 and
+      pthread_sigmask(SIG_BLOCK, signalMask, oldSignalMask) == 0
+
+  proc raiseStopSignal() =
+    # If the default signal handler is blocked and the app is polling, we still
+    # want the state updated - blocking signals on all threads is necessary for
+    # waitSignal to work, but the application might want to check _before_ the
+    # signal handler is invoked.
+    processState.store(ProcessState.Stopping)
+
+    when defined(linux):
+      # On linux, we want to direct the signal to the thread that is currently
+      # listening on `waitSignal` - when there's no such thread, it doesn't
+      # really matter which thread it goes to
+      discard pthread_kill(signalTarget, posix.SIGTERM)
+    else:
+      # kqueue listens only to process-directed signals - for waitSignal to
+      # work as expected, we use kill
+      discard kill(getpid(), posix.SIGTERM)
+
+else:
+  proc ignoreStopSignalsInThread*(_: type ProcessState): bool =
+    true
+
+  import chronos/osutils
+
+  proc raiseStopSignal() =
+    discard c_raise(ansi_c.SIGINT)
+    # Chronos installs its own handlers that are incompatible with `raise` -
+    # when waitSignal is running we must also notify chronos
+    discard osutils.raiseSignal(chronos.SIGINT)
+
 proc scheduleStop*(_: type ProcessState, source: cstring) =
   ## Schedule that the process should stop in a thread-safe way. This function
   ## can be used from non-nim threads as well.
-  ##
-  # TODO in theory, we could use `raise`/`kill`/`etc` depending on the platform
-  #      to set `processState` from within the signal handler - if we were
-  #      a kqueue/epoll-based signal handler, this would be the way to go so
-  #      as to provide a wakeup notification - there are platform-based
-  #      differences to take into account however, ie on kqueue, only process-
-  #      directed signals are woken up whereas on linux, the signal has to
-  #      reach the correct thread that is doing the waiting which requires
-  #      special care.
   var nilptr: pointer
   discard shutdownSource.compareExchange(nilptr, source, moRelaxed)
-  processState.store(ProcessState.Stopping)
+  raiseStopSignal()
 
 proc notifyRunning*(_: type ProcessState) =
   processState.store(ProcessState.Running, moRelaxed)
@@ -70,7 +99,12 @@ proc notifyRunning*(_: type ProcessState) =
 proc setupStopHandlers*(_: type ProcessState) =
   ## Install signal handlers for SIGINT/SIGTERM such that the application
   ## updates `processState` on CTRL-C and similar, allowing it to gracefully
-  ## shut down by monitoring `ProcessState.stopping` at regular intervals.
+  ## shut down by monitoring `ProcessState.running` at regular intervals.
+  ##
+  ## `async` applications should prefer to use
+  ## `await ProcessState.waitStopsignals()` since the CTRL-C handling provided
+  ## by `signal` does not wake the async polling loop and can therefore get
+  ## stuck if no events are happening.
   ##
   ## This function should be called early on from the main thread to avoid the
   ## default Nim signal handlers from being used as these will crash or close
@@ -104,6 +138,46 @@ proc setupStopHandlers*(_: type ProcessState) =
   when defined(posix):
     c_signal(ansi_c.SIGTERM, controlCHandler)
 
+proc waitStopSignals*(_: type ProcessState) {.async: (raises: [CancelledError]).} =
+  ## Monitor stop signals via chronos' event loop, masking other handlers.
+  ##
+  ## This approach ensures that the event loop wakes up on signal delivery
+  ## unlike `setupStopHandlers` which merely sets a flag that must be polled.
+  ##
+  ## Only one thread should ever listen for stop signals this way.
+
+  # Ensure other threads don't cause a crash, in case the application did not
+  # already call it
+  ProcessState.setupStopHandlers()
+
+  let
+    sigint = waitSignal(chronos.SIGINT)
+    sigterm = waitSignal(chronos.SIGTERM)
+
+  debug "Waiting for signal", chroniclesThreadIds = true
+  when defined(linux):
+    signalTarget = pthread_self()
+
+  try:
+    discard await race(sigint, sigterm)
+
+    var source = cast[cstring](shutdownSource.load())
+    if source == nil:
+      source = "Unknown"
+
+    notice "Shutting down", chroniclesThreadIds = true, source
+
+    processState.store(ProcessState.Stopping, moRelaxed)
+  finally:
+    # waitSignal sometimes overwrites signal handlers:
+    # https://github.com/status-im/nim-chronos/issues/581
+    ProcessState.setupStopHandlers()
+
+    # Might be finished already, which is fine..
+    await noCancel sigint.cancelAndWait()
+    await noCancel sigterm.cancelAndWait()
+
+
 proc running*(_: type ProcessState): bool =
   processState.load(moRelaxed) == ProcessState.Running
 
@@ -126,7 +200,7 @@ template stopIt*(_: type ProcessState, body: untyped): bool =
     false
 
 when isMainModule: # Test case
-  import os, chronos, chronos/threadsync
+  import os
 
   proc threadWork() {.async.} =
     var todo = 2
@@ -167,14 +241,15 @@ when isMainModule: # Test case
     # set the same flag as `waitStopSignals` does.
     ProcessState.setupStopHandlers()
 
+    # Wait for a stop signal - this can be either the user pressing ctrl-c or
+    # an out-of-band notification via kill/windows service command / some rest
+    # API etc
     echo "main thread waiting"
-    while ProcessState.stopping.isNone:
-      os.sleep(100)
-
+    waitFor ProcessState.waitStopSignals()
     echo "main thread firing stopper"
 
     # Notify the thread should stop itself as well using a ThreadSignalPtr
-    # rather than an OS signal - this is more portable
+    # rather than an OS signal
     waitFor stopper.fire()
 
     workerThread.joinThread()