diff --git a/.busted b/.busted
index 57e2f9eabc2f..706d058cbb34 100644
--- a/.busted
+++ b/.busted
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@ return {
     lpath = "./?.lua;./?/init.lua;",
     -- make setup() and teardown() behave like their lazy_ variants
     lazy = true,
+    helper = "./spec/busted-ci-helper.lua",
   }
 }
diff --git a/kong-3.10.0-0.rockspec b/kong-3.10.0-0.rockspec
index e8eac2999739..2ba7c9e54f2c 100644
--- a/kong-3.10.0-0.rockspec
+++ b/kong-3.10.0-0.rockspec
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ build = {
     ["kong.cmd.utils.prefix_handler"] = "kong/cmd/utils/prefix_handler.lua",
     ["kong.cmd.utils.process_secrets"] = "kong/cmd/utils/process_secrets.lua",
     ["kong.cmd.utils.inject_confs"] = "kong/cmd/utils/inject_confs.lua",
+    ["kong.cmd.utils.timer"] = "kong/cmd/utils/timer.lua",
 
     ["kong.api"] = "kong/api/init.lua",
     ["kong.api.api_helpers"] = "kong/api/api_helpers.lua",
diff --git a/kong/cmd/init.lua b/kong/cmd/init.lua
index 609d8c6f6cfc..28fe22416348 100644
--- a/kong/cmd/init.lua
+++ b/kong/cmd/init.lua
@@ -4,13 +4,7 @@ math.randomseed() -- Generate PRNG seed
 
 local pl_app = require "pl.lapp"
 local log = require "kong.cmd.utils.log"
-
-local function stop_timers()
-  -- shutdown lua-resty-timer-ng to allow the nginx worker to stop quickly
-  if _G.timerng then
-    _G.timerng:destroy()
-  end
-end
+local timer = require "kong.cmd.utils.timer"
 
 return function(cmd_name, args)
   local cmd = require("kong.cmd." .. cmd_name)
@@ -42,5 +36,6 @@ return function(cmd_name, args)
     pl_app.quit(nil, true)
   end)
 
-  stop_timers()
+  -- shutdown lua-resty-timer-ng to allow the nginx worker to stop quickly
+  timer.shutdown()
 end
diff --git a/kong/cmd/utils/timer.lua b/kong/cmd/utils/timer.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..511bbaf4cc37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kong/cmd/utils/timer.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+local _M = {}
+
+function _M.shutdown()
+  if _G.timerng then
+    pcall(_G.timerng.destroy, _G.timerng)
+  end
+
+  -- kong.init_worker() stashes the timerng instance within the kong global and
+  -- removes the _G.timerng reference, so check there too
+  if _G.kong and _G.kong.timer and _G.kong.timer ~= _G.timerng then
+    pcall(_G.kong.timer.destroy, _G.kong.timer)
+    _G.kong.timer = nil
+  end
+
+  _G.timerng = nil
+end
+
+return _M
diff --git a/spec/busted-ci-helper.lua b/spec/busted-ci-helper.lua
index 1e9526a81179..2260138b890d 100644
--- a/spec/busted-ci-helper.lua
+++ b/spec/busted-ci-helper.lua
@@ -1,43 +1,55 @@
 -- busted-ci-helper.lua
+local busted = require 'busted'
 
+do
+  local shutdown_timers = require("kong.cmd.utils.timer").shutdown
+  assert(type(shutdown_timers) == "function")
 
--- needed before requiring 'socket.unix'
-require 'socket'
+  -- shutdown lua-resty-timer-ng to allow the nginx worker to stop quickly
+  busted.subscribe({ 'exit' }, function()
+    shutdown_timers()
 
-local busted = require 'busted'
-local cjson = require 'cjson'
-local socket_unix = require 'socket.unix'
+    -- second return value must be `true`, or else all other callbacks for this
+    -- event will be skipped
+    return nil, true
+  end)
+end
 
-local busted_event_path = os.getenv("BUSTED_EVENT_PATH")
+local BUSTED_EVENT_PATH = os.getenv("BUSTED_EVENT_PATH")
+if BUSTED_EVENT_PATH then
+  -- needed before requiring 'socket.unix'
+  require 'socket'
 
--- Function to recursively copy a table, skipping keys associated with functions
-local function copyTable(original, copied, cache, max_depth, current_depth)
-  copied        = copied or {}
-  cache         = cache  or {}
-  max_depth     = max_depth or 5
-  current_depth = current_depth or 1
+  local cjson = require 'cjson'
+  local socket_unix = require 'socket.unix'
 
-  if cache[original] then return cache[original] end
-  cache[original] = copied
+  -- Function to recursively copy a table, skipping keys associated with functions
+  local function copyTable(original, copied, cache, max_depth, current_depth)
+    copied        = copied or {}
+    cache         = cache  or {}
+    max_depth     = max_depth or 5
+    current_depth = current_depth or 1
 
-  for key, value in pairs(original) do
-    if type(value) == "table" then
-      if current_depth < max_depth then
-        copied[key] = copyTable(value, {}, cache, max_depth, current_depth + 1)
+    if cache[original] then return cache[original] end
+    cache[original] = copied
+
+    for key, value in pairs(original) do
+      if type(value) == "table" then
+        if current_depth < max_depth then
+          copied[key] = copyTable(value, {}, cache, max_depth, current_depth + 1)
+        end
+      elseif type(value) == "userdata" then
+        copied[key] = tostring(value)
+      elseif type(value) ~= "function" then
+        copied[key] = value
       end
-    elseif type(value) == "userdata" then
-      copied[key] = tostring(value)
-    elseif type(value) ~= "function" then
-      copied[key] = value
     end
-  end
 
-  return copied
-end
+    return copied
+  end
 
-if busted_event_path then
   local sock = assert(socket_unix())
-  assert(sock:connect(busted_event_path))
+  assert(sock:connect(BUSTED_EVENT_PATH))
 
   local events = {{ 'suite', 'reset' },
                   { 'suite', 'start' },
@@ -51,6 +63,7 @@ if busted_event_path then
                   { 'error', 'it' },
                   { 'failure' },
                   { 'error' }}
+
   for _, event in ipairs(events) do
     busted.subscribe(event, function (...)
       local args = {}