diff --git a/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKWatcher.java b/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKWatcher.java
index 9608ffc17c6..f499d0f9487 100644
--- a/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKWatcher.java
+++ b/hbase-zookeeper/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/zookeeper/ZKWatcher.java
@@ -735,12 +735,20 @@ public class ZKWatcher implements Watcher, Abortable, Closeable {
    */
   @Override
   public void close() {
+    zkEventProcessor.shutdown();
     try {
-      recoverableZooKeeper.close();
+      if (!zkEventProcessor.awaitTermination(15, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+        LOG.warn("ZKWatcher event processor has not finished to terminate.");
+        zkEventProcessor.shutdownNow();
+      }
     } catch (InterruptedException e) {
       Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
     } finally {
-      zkEventProcessor.shutdownNow();
+      try {
+        recoverableZooKeeper.close();
+      } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+        Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+      }
     }
   }