lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm | 2 ++

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
index 0b4bc20e64a18544b4509026a9845d8b1ee15b95..8d49b212baf677426857081d99ab83b0e7229673 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
@@ -1101,6 +1101,8 @@ 	PublicInbox::DS->EventLoop;
 	exit($exit_code // 0);
 }
 
+sub busy { 1 } # prevent daemon-shutdown if client is connected
+
 # for users w/o Socket::Msghdr installed or Inline::C enabled
 sub oneshot {
 	my ($main_pkg) = @_;