diff --git a/internal/daemon/vm.go b/internal/daemon/vm.go
index 511f693..dfa4faf 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/vm.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/vm.go
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ import (
 	"banger/internal/vmdns"
 )
 
+var (
+	errWaitForExitTimeout = errors.New("timed out waiting for VM to exit")
+	gracefulShutdownWait  = 10 * time.Second
+)
+
 func (d *Daemon) CreateVM(ctx context.Context, params api.VMCreateParams) (vm model.VMRecord, err error) {
 	d.mu.Lock()
 	defer d.mu.Unlock()
@@ -320,8 +325,11 @@ func (d *Daemon) StopVM(ctx context.Context, idOrName string) (vm model.VMRecord
 		return model.VMRecord{}, err
 	}
 	op.stage("wait_for_exit", "pid", vm.Runtime.PID)
-	if err := d.waitForExit(ctx, vm.Runtime.PID, vm.Runtime.APISockPath, 30*time.Second); err != nil {
-		return model.VMRecord{}, err
+	if err := d.waitForExit(ctx, vm.Runtime.PID, vm.Runtime.APISockPath, gracefulShutdownWait); err != nil {
+		if !errors.Is(err, errWaitForExitTimeout) {
+			return model.VMRecord{}, err
+		}
+		op.stage("graceful_shutdown_timeout", "pid", vm.Runtime.PID)
 	}
 	op.stage("cleanup_runtime")
 	if err := d.cleanupRuntime(ctx, vm, true); err != nil {
@@ -377,7 +385,10 @@ func (d *Daemon) KillVM(ctx context.Context, params api.VMKillParams) (vm model.
 	}
 	op.stage("wait_for_exit", "pid", vm.Runtime.PID)
 	if err := d.waitForExit(ctx, vm.Runtime.PID, vm.Runtime.APISockPath, 30*time.Second); err != nil {
-		return model.VMRecord{}, err
+		if !errors.Is(err, errWaitForExitTimeout) {
+			return model.VMRecord{}, err
+		}
+		op.stage("signal_timeout", "pid", vm.Runtime.PID, "signal", signal)
 	}
 	op.stage("cleanup_runtime")
 	if err := d.cleanupRuntime(ctx, vm, true); err != nil {
@@ -810,7 +821,7 @@ func (d *Daemon) waitForExit(ctx context.Context, pid int, apiSock string, timeo
 			return nil
 		}
 		if time.Now().After(deadline) {
-			return fmt.Errorf("timed out waiting for VM to exit")
+			return errWaitForExitTimeout
 		}
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
diff --git a/internal/daemon/vm_test.go b/internal/daemon/vm_test.go
index c6f44ba..15ac8ba 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/vm_test.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/vm_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -480,6 +482,62 @@ func TestCleanupRuntimeRediscoversLiveFirecrackerPID(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestStopVMFallsBackToForcedCleanupAfterGracefulTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	db := openDaemonStore(t)
+	apiSock := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "fc.sock")
+	startFakeFirecrackerAPI(t, apiSock)
+
+	fake := startFakeFirecrackerProcess(t, apiSock)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		if fake.ProcessState == nil || !fake.ProcessState.Exited() {
+			_ = fake.Process.Kill()
+			_ = fake.Wait()
+		}
+	})
+
+	oldGracefulWait := gracefulShutdownWait
+	gracefulShutdownWait = 50 * time.Millisecond
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		gracefulShutdownWait = oldGracefulWait
+	})
+
+	vm := testVM("stubborn", "image-stubborn", "172.16.0.23")
+	vm.State = model.VMStateRunning
+	vm.Runtime.State = model.VMStateRunning
+	vm.Runtime.PID = fake.Process.Pid
+	vm.Runtime.APISockPath = apiSock
+	if err := db.UpsertVM(ctx, vm); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("UpsertVM: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	runner := &processKillingRunner{
+		scriptedRunner: &scriptedRunner{
+			t: t,
+			steps: []runnerStep{
+				sudoStep("", nil, "chown", fmt.Sprintf("%d:%d", os.Getuid(), os.Getgid()), apiSock),
+				sudoStep("", nil, "chmod", "600", apiSock),
+				{call: runnerCall{name: "pgrep", args: []string{"-n", "-f", apiSock}}, out: []byte(strconv.Itoa(fake.Process.Pid) + "\n")},
+				sudoStep("", nil, "kill", "-KILL", strconv.Itoa(fake.Process.Pid)),
+			},
+		},
+		proc: fake,
+	}
+	d := &Daemon{store: db, runner: runner}
+
+	got, err := d.StopVM(ctx, vm.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("StopVM returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+	runner.assertExhausted()
+	if got.State != model.VMStateStopped || got.Runtime.State != model.VMStateStopped {
+		t.Fatalf("StopVM state = %s/%s, want stopped", got.State, got.Runtime.State)
+	}
+	if got.Runtime.PID != 0 || got.Runtime.APISockPath != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("runtime handles not cleared: %+v", got.Runtime)
+	}
+}
+
 func openDaemonStore(t *testing.T) *store.Store {
 	t.Helper()
 	db, err := store.Open(filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "state.db"))
@@ -552,6 +610,34 @@ func startFakeFirecrackerProcess(t *testing.T, apiSock string) *exec.Cmd {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func startFakeFirecrackerAPI(t *testing.T, apiSock string) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(apiSock), 0o755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MkdirAll(%s): %v", filepath.Dir(apiSock), err)
+	}
+	listener, err := net.Listen("unix", apiSock)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("listen unix %s: %v", apiSock, err)
+	}
+	mux := http.NewServeMux()
+	mux.HandleFunc("/actions", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if r.Method != http.MethodPut {
+			http.Error(w, "method not allowed", http.StatusMethodNotAllowed)
+			return
+		}
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+	})
+	server := &http.Server{Handler: mux}
+	go func() {
+		_ = server.Serve(listener)
+	}()
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		_ = server.Close()
+		_ = os.Remove(apiSock)
+	})
+}
+
 type processKillingRunner struct {
 	*scriptedRunner
 	proc *exec.Cmd