diff --git a/source/vibe/core/core.d b/source/vibe/core/core.d
index 45b907a..64f70cf 100644
--- a/source/vibe/core/core.d
+++ b/source/vibe/core/core.d
@@ -203,11 +203,13 @@ int runEventLoop()
 	performIdleProcessing();
 	if (getExitFlag()) return 0;
 
+	Task exit_task;
+
 	// handle exit flag in the main thread to exit when
 	// exitEventLoop(true) is called from a thread)
 	() @trusted nothrow {
-		if (Thread.getThis() is st_threads[0].thread)
-			runTask(toDelegate(&watchExitFlag));
+		if (s_isMainThread)
+			exit_task = runTask(toDelegate(&watchExitFlag));
 	} ();
 
 	while (true) {
@@ -219,6 +221,11 @@ int runEventLoop()
 		performIdleProcessing();
 	}
 
+	// make sure the exit flag watch task finishes together with this loop
+	// TODO: would be niced to do this without exceptions
+	if (exit_task && exit_task.running)
+		exit_task.interrupt();
+
 	logDebug("Event loop done (scheduled tasks=%s, waiters=%s, thread exit=%s).",
 		s_scheduler.scheduledTaskCount, eventDriver.core.waiterCount, s_exitEventLoop);
 	eventDriver.core.clearExitFlag();
@@ -527,7 +534,7 @@ unittest {
 
 unittest { // run and join local task from outside of a task
 	int i = 0;
-	auto t = runTask({ sleep(5.msecs); i = 1; });
+	auto t = runTask({ sleep(1.msecs); i = 1; });
 	t.join();
 	assert(i == 1);
 }
@@ -1177,6 +1184,7 @@ private {
 	__gshared Condition st_threadShutdownCondition;
 	shared bool st_term = false;
 
+	bool s_isMainThread = false; // set in shared static this
 	bool s_exitEventLoop = false;
 	package bool s_eventLoopRunning = false;
 	bool delegate() @safe nothrow s_idleHandler;
@@ -1260,6 +1268,8 @@ shared static this()
 		}
 	}
 
+	s_isMainThread = true;
+
 	// COMPILER BUG: Must be some kind of module constructor order issue:
 	//    without this, the stdout/stderr handles are not initialized before
 	//    the log module is set up.
@@ -1329,13 +1339,12 @@ static ~this()
 {
 	auto thisthr = Thread.getThis();
 
-	bool is_main_thread = false;
+	bool is_main_thread = s_isMainThread;
 
 	synchronized (st_threadsMutex) {
 		auto idx = st_threads.countUntil!(c => c.thread is thisthr);
 
-		// if we are the main thread, wait for all others before terminating
-		is_main_thread = idx == 0;
+		logDebug("Thread exit %s (index %s) (main=%s)", thisthr.name, idx, is_main_thread);
 		if (is_main_thread) { // we are the main thread, wait for others
 			atomicStore(st_term, true);
 			st_threadsSignal.emit();
@@ -1398,7 +1407,7 @@ nothrow {
 }
 
 private void handleWorkerTasks()
-{
+nothrow {
 	logDebug("worker thread enter");
 
 	auto thisthr = Thread.getThis();
@@ -1408,7 +1417,7 @@ private void handleWorkerTasks()
 		auto emit_count = st_threadsSignal.emitCount;
 		TaskFuncInfo task;
 
-		synchronized (st_threadsMutex) {
+		bool processTask() nothrow {
 			auto idx = st_threads.countUntil!(c => c.thread is thisthr);
 			assert(idx >= 0, "Worker thread not in st_threads array!?");
 			logDebug("worker thread check");
@@ -1418,7 +1427,7 @@ private void handleWorkerTasks()
 					logWarn("Worker thread shuts down with specific worker tasks left in its queue.");
 				if (st_threads.count!(c => c.isWorker) == 1 && st_workerTasks.length > 0)
 					logWarn("Worker threads shut down with worker tasks still left in the queue.");
-				break;
+				return false;
 			}
 
 			if (!st_workerTasks.empty) {
@@ -1430,10 +1439,18 @@ private void handleWorkerTasks()
 				task = st_threads[idx].taskQueue.front;
 				st_threads[idx].taskQueue.popFront();
 			}
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		{
+			scope (failure) assert(false);
+			synchronized (st_threadsMutex)
+				if (!processTask())
+					break;
 		}
 
 		if (task.func !is null) runTask_internal(task);
-		else emit_count = st_threadsSignal.wait(emit_count);
+		else emit_count = st_threadsSignal.waitUninterruptible(emit_count);
 	}
 
 	logDebug("worker thread exit");
@@ -1448,7 +1465,8 @@ private void watchExitFlag()
 			if (getExitFlag()) break;
 		}
 
-		emit_count = st_threadsSignal.wait(emit_count);
+		try emit_count = st_threadsSignal.wait(emit_count);
+		catch (InterruptException e) return;
 	}
 
 	logDebug("main thread exit");