diff --git a/manifests/machineconfigdaemon/daemonset.yaml b/manifests/machineconfigdaemon/daemonset.yaml
index 560921ce1f..5337913236 100644
--- a/manifests/machineconfigdaemon/daemonset.yaml
+++ b/manifests/machineconfigdaemon/daemonset.yaml
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ spec:
       hostNetwork: true
       hostPID: true
       serviceAccountName: machine-config-daemon
-      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 600
+      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 3600
       nodeSelector:
         kubernetes.io/os: linux
       priorityClassName: "system-node-critical"
diff --git a/pkg/daemon/daemon.go b/pkg/daemon/daemon.go
index 69d1280a77..619a4c6fdb 100644
--- a/pkg/daemon/daemon.go
+++ b/pkg/daemon/daemon.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ type Daemon struct {
 	kubeletHealthzEnabled  bool
 	kubeletHealthzEndpoint string
 
-	updateActive     bool
+	// updateActiveLock is used to signal that an update operation is in progress
 	updateActiveLock sync.Mutex
 
 	nodeWriter NodeWriter
@@ -351,15 +351,19 @@ func (dn *Daemon) worker() {
 }
 
 func (dn *Daemon) processNextWorkItem() bool {
-	key, quit := dn.queue.Get()
-	if quit {
+	select {
+	case <-dn.stopCh:
 		return false
-	}
-	defer dn.queue.Done(key)
-
-	err := dn.syncHandler(key.(string))
-	dn.handleErr(err, key)
+	default:
+		key, quit := dn.queue.Get()
+		if quit {
+			return false
+		}
+		defer dn.queue.Done(key)
 
+		err := dn.syncHandler(key.(string))
+		dn.handleErr(err, key)
+	}
 	return true
 }
 
@@ -580,29 +584,28 @@ func (dn *Daemon) RunFirstbootCompleteMachineconfig() error {
 	return dn.reboot(fmt.Sprintf("Completing firstboot provisioning to %s", mc.GetName()))
 }
 
-// InstallSignalHandler installs the handler for the signals the daemon should act on
-func (dn *Daemon) InstallSignalHandler(signaled chan struct{}) {
-	termChan := make(chan os.Signal, 2048)
-	signal.Notify(termChan, syscall.SIGTERM)
+// InterruptHandler ensures that shutdown operations are blocked until an
+// an update operation is finished.
+func (dn *Daemon) InterruptHandler(signaled chan int) {
+	glog.Info("Guarding against sigterm signal")
 
 	// Catch SIGTERM - if we're actively updating, we should avoid
 	// having the process be killed.
 	// https://github.com/openshift/machine-config-operator/issues/407
 	go func() {
-		for sig := range termChan {
-			//nolint:gocritic
-			switch sig {
-			case syscall.SIGTERM:
-				dn.updateActiveLock.Lock()
-				updateActive := dn.updateActive
-				dn.updateActiveLock.Unlock()
-				if updateActive {
-					glog.Info("Got SIGTERM, but actively updating")
-				} else {
-					close(signaled)
-					return
-				}
-			}
+		sig := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+		signal.Notify(sig, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGTERM)
+
+		select {
+		case <-dn.stopCh:
+			glog.Info("sigterm handler function stopped")
+			dn.updateActiveLock.Lock()
+			return
+		case <-sig:
+			glog.Warningf("sigterm received waiting to claim update lock")
+			dn.updateActiveLock.Lock()
+			glog.Info("lock obtained, proceeding to shutdown")
+			signaled <- 15
 		}
 	}()
 }
@@ -617,8 +620,8 @@ func (dn *Daemon) Run(stopCh <-chan struct{}, exitCh <-chan error) error {
 	glog.Info("Starting MachineConfigDaemon")
 	defer glog.Info("Shutting down MachineConfigDaemon")
 
-	signaled := make(chan struct{})
-	dn.InstallSignalHandler(signaled)
+	signaled := make(chan int)
+	dn.InterruptHandler(signaled)
 
 	if dn.kubeletHealthzEnabled {
 		glog.Info("Enabling Kubelet Healthz Monitor")
@@ -634,16 +637,16 @@ func (dn *Daemon) Run(stopCh <-chan struct{}, exitCh <-chan error) error {
 
 	go wait.Until(dn.worker, time.Second, stopCh)
 
-	for {
-		select {
-		case <-stopCh:
-			return nil
-		case <-signaled:
-			return nil
-		case err := <-exitCh:
-			// This channel gets errors from auxiliary goroutines like loginmonitor and kubehealth
-			glog.Warningf("Got an error from auxiliary tools: %v", err)
-		}
+	select {
+	case <-stopCh:
+		return nil
+	case sig := <-signaled:
+		glog.Infof("shutdown of machine-config-daemon triggered via signal %d", sig)
+		return nil
+	case err := <-exitCh:
+		// This channel gets errors from auxiliary goroutines like loginmonitor and kubehealth
+		glog.Warningf("Got an error from auxiliary tools: %v", err)
+		return err
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/daemon/update.go b/pkg/daemon/update.go
index 4778d9d016..ec3559ed04 100644
--- a/pkg/daemon/update.go
+++ b/pkg/daemon/update.go
@@ -573,6 +573,10 @@ func calculatePostConfigChangeAction(oldConfig, newConfig *mcfgv1.MachineConfig)
 func (dn *Daemon) update(oldConfig, newConfig *mcfgv1.MachineConfig) (retErr error) {
 	oldConfig = canonicalizeEmptyMC(oldConfig)
 
+	// signal that an update is active
+	dn.updateActiveLock.Lock()
+	defer dn.updateActiveLock.Unlock()
+
 	if dn.nodeWriter != nil {
 		state, err := getNodeAnnotationExt(dn.node, constants.MachineConfigDaemonStateAnnotationKey, true)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -585,13 +589,6 @@ func (dn *Daemon) update(oldConfig, newConfig *mcfgv1.MachineConfig) (retErr err
 		}
 	}
 
-	dn.catchIgnoreSIGTERM()
-	defer func() {
-		if retErr != nil {
-			dn.cancelSIGTERM()
-		}
-	}()
-
 	oldConfigName := oldConfig.GetName()
 	newConfigName := newConfig.GetName()
 
@@ -1914,29 +1911,11 @@ func (dn *Daemon) logSystem(format string, a ...interface{}) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (dn *Daemon) catchIgnoreSIGTERM() {
-	dn.updateActiveLock.Lock()
-	defer dn.updateActiveLock.Unlock()
-	if dn.updateActive {
-		return
-	}
-	dn.updateActive = true
-}
-
-func (dn *Daemon) cancelSIGTERM() {
-	dn.updateActiveLock.Lock()
-	defer dn.updateActiveLock.Unlock()
-	if dn.updateActive {
-		dn.updateActive = false
-	}
-}
-
 // reboot is the final step. it tells systemd-logind to reboot the machine,
 // cleans up the agent's connections, and then sleeps for 7 days. if it wakes up
 // and manages to return, it returns a scary error message.
 func (dn *Daemon) reboot(rationale string) error {
 	// Now that everything is done, avoid delaying shutdown.
-	dn.cancelSIGTERM()
 	dn.Close()
 
 	if dn.skipReboot {
diff --git a/pkg/operator/assets/bindata.go b/pkg/operator/assets/bindata.go
index a6850235a9..5501ae7969 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/assets/bindata.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/assets/bindata.go
@@ -1158,7 +1158,7 @@ spec:
       hostNetwork: true
       hostPID: true
       serviceAccountName: machine-config-daemon
-      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 600
+      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 3600
       nodeSelector:
         kubernetes.io/os: linux
       priorityClassName: "system-node-critical"