diff --git a/rust/system/src/execution/dispatcher.rs b/rust/system/src/execution/dispatcher.rs
index 764ae1927be..2d3dce4c87d 100644
--- a/rust/system/src/execution/dispatcher.rs
+++ b/rust/system/src/execution/dispatcher.rs
@@ -16,10 +16,13 @@ use std::collections::VecDeque;
 use std::fmt::Debug;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
 use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::time::Duration;
 use thiserror::Error;
 use tokio::runtime::Runtime;
 use tracing::{trace_span, Instrument, Span};
 
+const IO_RUNTIME_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(5);
+
 /// The dispatcher is responsible for distributing tasks to worker threads.
 /// It is a component that receives tasks and distributes them to worker threads.
 /**
@@ -67,7 +70,7 @@ pub struct Dispatcher {
     task_queue: VecDeque<(TaskMessage, Span)>,
     waiters: Vec<TaskRequestMessage>,
     active_io_tasks: Arc<AtomicU64>,
-    io_runtime: Arc<Runtime>,
+    io_runtime: Option<Runtime>,
     worker_handles: Arc<Mutex<Vec<ComponentHandle<WorkerThread>>>>,
     metrics: DispatcherMetrics,
 }
@@ -80,6 +83,15 @@ impl Debug for Dispatcher {
     }
 }
 
+impl Drop for Dispatcher {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        if let Some(io_runtime) = self.io_runtime.take() {
+            // Drop can run inside a Tokio task; use the nonblocking shutdown fallback.
+            io_runtime.shutdown_background();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 struct DispatcherMetrics {
     task_queue_depth: opentelemetry::metrics::Histogram<u64>,
@@ -179,7 +191,7 @@ impl Dispatcher {
             task_queue: VecDeque::new(),
             waiters: Vec::new(),
             active_io_tasks: Arc::new(AtomicU64::new(config.active_io_tasks as u64)),
-            io_runtime: Arc::new(io_runtime),
+            io_runtime: Some(io_runtime),
             worker_handles: Arc::new(Mutex::new(Vec::new())),
             metrics: DispatcherMetrics::new(),
         }
@@ -307,10 +319,22 @@ impl Dispatcher {
                     .queue_latency_ms
                     .record(duration_ms(task_created_at.elapsed()), &task_kv);
                 self.record_depths();
-                self.io_runtime.spawn(async move {
-                    task.run().instrument(child_span).await;
-                    drop(counter);
-                });
+                match &self.io_runtime {
+                    Some(io_runtime) => {
+                        io_runtime.spawn(async move {
+                            task.run().instrument(child_span).await;
+                            drop(counter);
+                        });
+                    }
+                    None => {
+                        task.abort().await;
+                        self.metrics.task_abort_total.add(
+                            1,
+                            &task_attrs_with(task_type, operator, "reason", "dispatcher_stopped"),
+                        );
+                        drop(counter);
+                    }
+                }
             }
             OperatorType::Other => {
                 // If a worker is waiting for a task, send it to the worker in FIFO order.
@@ -435,12 +459,15 @@ impl TaskRequestMessage {
 enum DispatcherStopError {
     #[error("Failed to stop worker thread: {0}")]
     JoinError(ConsumeJoinHandleError),
+    #[error("Failed to shut down IO runtime: {0}")]
+    IoRuntimeShutdownError(tokio::task::JoinError),
 }
 
 impl ChromaError for DispatcherStopError {
     fn code(&self) -> chroma_error::ErrorCodes {
         match self {
             DispatcherStopError::JoinError(_) => chroma_error::ErrorCodes::Internal,
+            DispatcherStopError::IoRuntimeShutdownError(_) => chroma_error::ErrorCodes::Internal,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -475,6 +502,14 @@ impl Component for Dispatcher {
                 .map_err(|e| DispatcherStopError::JoinError(e).boxed())?;
         }
 
+        if let Some(io_runtime) = self.io_runtime.take() {
+            tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+                io_runtime.shutdown_timeout(IO_RUNTIME_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT);
+            })
+            .await
+            .map_err(|e| DispatcherStopError::IoRuntimeShutdownError(e).boxed())?;
+        }
+
         Ok(())
     }
 }
@@ -889,4 +924,36 @@ mod tests {
         let first_result = first_result_rx.await.unwrap();
         assert_eq!(first_result.into_inner().unwrap(), "first");
     }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_dispatcher_shutdown_does_not_drop_runtime_in_async_context() {
+        let system = System::new();
+        let dispatcher = Dispatcher::new(DispatcherConfig {
+            num_worker_threads: 0,
+            task_queue_limit: 0,
+            dispatcher_queue_size: 10,
+            worker_queue_size: 1,
+            active_io_tasks: 1,
+            cpu_affinity_num_cores: None,
+            io_affinity_num_cores: None,
+        });
+        let mut dispatcher_handle = system.start_component(dispatcher);
+
+        tokio::task::yield_now().await;
+        dispatcher_handle.stop();
+        dispatcher_handle.join().await.unwrap();
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_dispatcher_drop_does_not_drop_runtime_in_async_context() {
+        let _dispatcher = Dispatcher::new(DispatcherConfig {
+            num_worker_threads: 0,
+            task_queue_limit: 0,
+            dispatcher_queue_size: 10,
+            worker_queue_size: 1,
+            active_io_tasks: 1,
+            cpu_affinity_num_cores: None,
+            io_affinity_num_cores: None,
+        });
+    }
 }