lib/PublicInbox/IMAP.pm      |  4 ++++
 lib/PublicInbox/InboxIdle.pm |  4 ++++
 t/nntpd.t                    | 34 ++++++++++++++++------------------

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/IMAP.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/IMAP.pm
index 9ae7c60e75ee161eb276b23d750fa65c4ea9a7ce..d4ef6efe156d2b3efde19d4eafa08aa3a760b73d 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/IMAP.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/IMAP.pm
@@ -1462,6 +1462,10 @@
 # for graceful shutdown in PublicInbox::Daemon:
 sub busy {
 	my ($self, $now) = @_;
+	if (defined($self->{-idle_tag})) {
+		$self->write(\"* BYE server shutting down\r\n");
+		return; # not busy anymore
+	}
 	($self->{rbuf} || $self->{wbuf} || $self->not_idle_long($now));
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/InboxIdle.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/InboxIdle.pm
index d60d4f239c381e2d8fd07d0247a016da78e30269..d0bb43c58486a5900348a74031cb44f95820bf74 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/InboxIdle.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/InboxIdle.pm
@@ -79,4 +79,8 @@ 	eval { $self->{inot}->poll }; # Linux::Inotify2::poll
 	warn "$self->{inot}->poll err: $@\n" if $@;
 }
 
+# for graceful shutdown in PublicInbox::Daemon,
+# just ensure the FD gets closed ASAP and subscribers
+sub busy { 0 }
+
 1;
diff --git a/t/nntpd.t b/t/nntpd.t
index d6042d18758def810762ab812a04e0442d5aa1a7..b24720eb9dd0c323158995b0a4c3532e1829ba6d 100644
--- a/t/nntpd.t
+++ b/t/nntpd.t
@@ -316,23 +316,6 @@ 		skip('lsof broken', 1) if (!scalar(@of) || $?);
 		my @xap = grep m!Search/Xapian!, @of;
 		is_deeply(\@xap, [], 'Xapian not loaded in nntpd');
 	}
-	{
-		setsockopt($s, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, 1);
-		syswrite($s, 'HDR List-id 1-');
-		select(undef, undef, undef, 0.15);
-		ok($td->kill, 'killed nntpd');
-		select(undef, undef, undef, 0.15);
-		syswrite($s, "\r\n");
-		$buf = '';
-		do {
-			sysread($s, $buf, 4096, length($buf));
-		} until ($buf =~ /\r\n\z/);
-		my @r = split("\r\n", $buf);
-		like($r[0], qr/^5\d\d /,
-			'got 5xx response for unoptimized HDR');
-		is(scalar @r, 1, 'only one response line');
-	}
-
 	# -compact requires Xapian
 	SKIP: {
 		require_mods('Search::Xapian', 2);
@@ -356,7 +339,22 @@ 			skip "lsof /(deleted)/ check untested on $^O", 1;
 		my @of = xqx([$lsof, '-p', $td->{pid}], undef, $noerr);
 		is(scalar(grep(/\(deleted\)/, @of)), 0, 'no deleted files');
 	};
-
+	{
+		setsockopt($s, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, 1);
+		syswrite($s, 'HDR List-id 1-');
+		select(undef, undef, undef, 0.15);
+		ok($td->kill, 'killed nntpd');
+		select(undef, undef, undef, 0.15);
+		syswrite($s, "\r\n");
+		$buf = '';
+		do {
+			sysread($s, $buf, 4096, length($buf));
+		} until ($buf =~ /\r\n\z/);
+		my @r = split("\r\n", $buf);
+		like($r[0], qr/^5\d\d /,
+			'got 5xx response for unoptimized HDR');
+		is(scalar @r, 1, 'only one response line');
+	}
 	$n = $s = undef;
 	$td->join;
 	is($?, 0, 'no error in exited process');