diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
index b8a9fe0b509..aa91feebff7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public class WatcherLifeCycleService extends AbstractComponent implements Cluste
         clusterService.addLifecycleListener(new LifecycleListener() {
             @Override
             public void beforeStop() {
-                stop(false);
+                stop(true);
             }
         });
         manuallyStopped = !settings.getAsBoolean("watcher.start_immediately",  true);