diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/main.cpp b/tools/chatgui/src/main.cpp
index 10fbec40..3674860c 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/main.cpp
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/main.cpp
@@ -9,13 +9,14 @@
 #include "mainwindow.h"
 #include "../db/db_manager.h"
 #include "../transport/node_config.h"
+#include "../transport/utun_node.h"
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
-extern "C" void utun_node_signal_shutdown(void);
+static UtunNode* g_ctrl_node = nullptr;
 
 static BOOL WINAPI console_ctrl_handler(DWORD dwCtrlType) {
     if (dwCtrlType == CTRL_C_EVENT || dwCtrlType == CTRL_BREAK_EVENT) {
-        utun_node_signal_shutdown();
+        if (g_ctrl_node) g_ctrl_node->requestStop();
         return TRUE;
     }
     return FALSE;
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     w.show();
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
+    g_ctrl_node = w.utunNode();
     SetConsoleCtrlHandler(console_ctrl_handler, TRUE);
 #endif
 
diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.cpp b/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.cpp
index 65002eee..be215956 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -120,10 +120,11 @@ void MainWindow::setupNode() {
     connect(m_node, &UtunNode::started, this, []() {
         qDebug("UtunNode started");
     });
-    connect(m_node, &UtunNode::stopped, this, []() {
+    connect(m_node, &UtunNode::stopped, this, [this]() {
         qDebug("UtunNode stopped");
+        if (m_node) m_node->finalize();
+        qApp->quit();
     });
-    connect(m_node, &UtunNode::stopped, qApp, &QApplication::quit);
 
     if (!m_cfgDebugFile.isEmpty())
         m_node->setDebugFile(m_cfgDebugFile);
@@ -255,7 +256,9 @@ void MainWindow::setupTray() {
     });
 
     QAction *quitAction = m_trayMenu->addAction("Quit");
-    connect(quitAction, &QAction::triggered, qApp, &QApplication::quit);
+    connect(quitAction, &QAction::triggered, this, [this]() {
+        if (m_node) m_node->requestStop();
+    });
 
     m_trayIcon->setContextMenu(m_trayMenu);
 
diff --git a/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.h b/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.h
index 814f3a2b..adab944b 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.h
+++ b/tools/chatgui/src/mainwindow.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ public:
     void onAutoConnectStatus(uint8_t status, uint16_t total, uint16_t totalNodes, uint16_t connected);
     void onChannelPeersOnline(const char* ch_id, int ch_id_len, uint16_t online);
     void reloadChannels();
+    UtunNode* utunNode() const { return m_node; }
 
 private:
     void setupUi();
diff --git a/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.cpp b/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.cpp
index 778607c2..94493577 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.cpp
+++ b/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.cpp
@@ -35,18 +35,9 @@ extern "C" {
 
 static thread_local UtunNode* g_currentNode = nullptr;
 
-static volatile sig_atomic_t g_shutdown = 0;
-static struct UASYNC* g_signal_ua = nullptr;
-
 static void signal_handler(int sig) {
     (void)sig;
-    g_shutdown = 1;
-    if (g_signal_ua) uasync_wakeup(g_signal_ua);
-}
-
-extern "C" void utun_node_signal_shutdown(void) {
-    g_shutdown = 1;
-    if (g_signal_ua) uasync_wakeup(g_signal_ua);
+    if (g_currentNode) g_currentNode->requestStop();
 }
 
 UtunNode::UtunNode(QObject* parent) : QObject(parent) {}
@@ -92,13 +83,32 @@ void UtunNode::setDebugCategories(const QString& categories) {
     m_debugCategories = categories;
 }
 
+void UtunNode::requestStop() {
+    m_stop = true;
+    if (m_ua) uasync_wakeup(m_ua);
+}
+
 void UtunNode::stop() {
     if (!m_running) return;
-    m_stop = true;
+    requestStop();
     if (m_thread.joinable()) m_thread.join();
+    finalize();
     m_running = false;
 }
 
+void UtunNode::finalize() {
+    if (!m_instance) return;
+    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "finalize: cleanup start");
+    etcp_router_bind(m_instance, ETCP_RT_ID_CHAT, nullptr);
+    chat_sync_destroy(m_instance);
+    chat_core_destroy(m_instance);
+    utun_instance_destroy(m_instance);
+    m_instance = nullptr;
+    uasync_destroy(m_ua, 0);
+    m_ua = nullptr;
+    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "finalize: cleanup done");
+}
+
 void UtunNode::send(uint64_t dstNodeId, const QByteArray& data) {
     if (!m_instance) return;
     struct ll_entry* entry = queue_entry_new(data.size());
@@ -273,11 +283,13 @@ void UtunNode::runLoop() {
         g_currentNode = nullptr;
         return;
     }
+    m_ua = ua;
 
     m_instance = utun_instance_create(ua, m_configPath.toUtf8().constData());
     if (!m_instance) {
         QMetaObject::invokeMethod(this, [this] { emit error("utun_instance_create failed"); });
         uasync_destroy(ua, 0);
+        m_ua = nullptr;
         g_currentNode = nullptr;
         return;
     }
@@ -319,6 +331,7 @@ void UtunNode::runLoop() {
         utun_instance_destroy(m_instance);
         m_instance = nullptr;
         uasync_destroy(ua, 0);
+        m_ua = nullptr;
         g_currentNode = nullptr;
         return;
     }
@@ -336,31 +349,18 @@ void UtunNode::runLoop() {
     DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "chat_core + chat_sync initialized");
     DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "utun_node: entering poll loop");
 
-    g_signal_ua = ua;
     signal(SIGINT, signal_handler);
     signal(SIGTERM, signal_handler);
 
-    while (!m_stop && !g_shutdown) {
+    while (!m_stop) {
         uasync_poll(ua, 100);
     }
 
-    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: poll exit m_stop=%d g_shutdown=%d", (int)m_stop, (int)g_shutdown);
+    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: poll exit m_stop=%d", (int)m_stop);
 
     signal(SIGINT, SIG_DFL);
     signal(SIGTERM, SIG_DFL);
-    g_signal_ua = nullptr;
 
-    etcp_router_bind(m_instance, ETCP_RT_ID_CHAT, nullptr);
-    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: etcp_router_unbind done");
-    chat_sync_destroy(m_instance);
-    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: chat_sync_destroy done");
-    chat_core_destroy(m_instance);
-    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: chat_core_destroy done");
-    utun_instance_destroy(m_instance);
-    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: utun_instance_destroy done");
-    m_instance = nullptr;
-    uasync_destroy(ua, 0);
-    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: uasync_destroy done, emitting stopped");
-    g_currentNode = nullptr;
+    DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_DEBUG, "runLoop: emitting stopped");
     QMetaObject::invokeMethod(this, [this] { emit stopped(); });
 }
diff --git a/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.h b/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.h
index 28ab6b1a..1e44b447 100644
--- a/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.h
+++ b/tools/chatgui/transport/utun_node.h
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ public:
     ~UtunNode();
 
     bool start(const QString& configPath);
+    void requestStop();
     void stop();
     bool isRunning() const { return m_running; }
+    void finalize();
 
     void setDebugFile(const QString& path);
     void setDbPath(const QString& path);
@@ -49,6 +51,7 @@ private:
     static void recvCallback(struct ETCP_CONN* conn, struct ll_entry* entry);
 
     UTUN_INSTANCE* m_instance = nullptr;
+    struct UASYNC*  m_ua = nullptr;
     std::thread m_thread;
     std::atomic<bool> m_running{false};
     std::atomic<bool> m_stop{false};