diff --git a/stratum/client.cpp b/stratum/client.cpp
index f961c47..6548a51 100644
--- a/stratum/client.cpp
+++ b/stratum/client.cpp
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ void *client_thread(void *p)
 	client->shares_per_minute = YAAMP_SHAREPERSEC;
 	client->last_submit_time = current_timestamp();
 
-	while(1)
+	while(!g_exiting)
 	{
 		if(client->submit_bad > 1024)
 		{
diff --git a/stratum/db.cpp b/stratum/db.cpp
index 8f73321..01a34b3 100644
--- a/stratum/db.cpp
+++ b/stratum/db.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
 
 void db_reconnect(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
+	if (g_exiting) {
+		db_close(db);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	mysql_init(&db->mysql);
 	for(int i=0; i<6; i++)
 	{
@@ -13,6 +18,7 @@ void db_reconnect(YAAMP_DB *db)
 		stratumlog("%d, %s\n", i, mysql_error(&db->mysql));
 		sleep(10);
 
+		mysql_close(&db->mysql);
 		mysql_init(&db->mysql);
 	}
 }
@@ -27,8 +33,11 @@ YAAMP_DB *db_connect()
 
 void db_close(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
-	mysql_close(&db->mysql);
-	delete db;
+	if (db) {
+		mysql_close(&db->mysql);
+		delete db;
+	}
+	db = NULL;
 }
 
 char *db_clean_string(YAAMP_DB *db, char *string)
@@ -46,6 +55,7 @@ void db_query(YAAMP_DB *db, const char *format, ...)
 {
 	va_list arglist;
 	va_start(arglist, format);
+	if(!db) return;
 
 	char *buffer = (char *)malloc(YAAMP_SMALLBUFSIZE+strlen(format));
 	if(!buffer) return;
@@ -53,7 +63,7 @@ void db_query(YAAMP_DB *db, const char *format, ...)
 	int len = vsprintf(buffer, format, arglist);
 	va_end(arglist);
 
-	while(1)
+	while(!g_exiting)
 	{
 		int res = mysql_query(&db->mysql, buffer);
 		if(!res) break;
@@ -62,6 +72,7 @@ void db_query(YAAMP_DB *db, const char *format, ...)
 		stratumlog("SQL ERROR: %d, %s\n", res, mysql_error(&db->mysql));
 		if(res != CR_SERVER_GONE_ERROR && res != CR_SERVER_LOST) exit(1);
 
+		usleep(100*YAAMP_MS);
 		db_reconnect(db);
 	}
 
@@ -74,6 +85,7 @@ void db_register_stratum(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
 	int pid = getpid();
 	int t = time(NULL);
+	if(!db) return;
 
 	db_query(db, "insert into stratums (pid, time, algo) values (%d, %d, '%s') on duplicate key update time=%d",
 		pid, t, g_current_algo->name, t);
@@ -81,6 +93,8 @@ void db_register_stratum(YAAMP_DB *db)
 
 void db_update_algos(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
+	if(!db) return;
+
 	if(g_current_algo->overflow)
 	{
 		debuglog("setting overflow\n");
@@ -127,6 +141,8 @@ void db_update_algos(YAAMP_DB *db)
 
 void db_update_coinds(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
+	if(!db) return;
+
 	for(CLI li = g_list_coind.first; li; li = li->next)
 	{
 		YAAMP_COIND *coind = (YAAMP_COIND *)li->data;
@@ -291,6 +307,8 @@ void db_update_coinds(YAAMP_DB *db)
 
 void db_update_remotes(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
+	if(!db) return;
+
 	db_query(db, "select id, speed/1000000, host, port, username, password, time, price, renterid from jobs where active and ready and algo='%s' order by time", g_stratum_algo);
 
 	MYSQL_RES *result = mysql_store_result(&db->mysql);
@@ -420,6 +438,8 @@ void db_update_remotes(YAAMP_DB *db)
 
 void db_update_renters(YAAMP_DB *db)
 {
+	if(!db) return;
+
 	db_query(db, "select id, balance, updated from renters");
 
 	MYSQL_RES *result = mysql_store_result(&db->mysql);
@@ -456,12 +476,10 @@ static void _json_str_safe(YAAMP_DB *db, json_value *json, const char *key, size
 {
 	json_value *val = json_get_val(json, key);
 	out[0] = '\0';
-	if (val && json_is_string(val)) {
+	if (db && val && json_is_string(val)) {
 		strncpy(out, json_string_value(val), maxlen);
 		out[maxlen-1] = '\0';
 		db_clean_string(db, out);
-	} else {
-		//debuglog("stats: invalid string for field '%s'\n", key);
 	}
 }
 #define json_str_safe(stats, k, out) _json_str_safe(db, stats, k, sizeof(out), out)
@@ -487,6 +505,8 @@ void db_store_stats(YAAMP_DB *db, YAAMP_CLIENT *client, json_value *stats)
 	double khashes, intensity, throughput;
 	int power, freq, memf;
 
+	if (!db) return;
+
 	json_str_safe(stats, "algo", salgo);
 	if (strcasecmp(g_current_algo->name, salgo) && client->submit_bad) {
 	//	debuglog("stats: wrong algo used %s != %s", salgo, g_current_algo->name);
diff --git a/stratum/job.cpp b/stratum/job.cpp
index b8a4a47..3653cc0 100644
--- a/stratum/job.cpp
+++ b/stratum/job.cpp
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ pthread_cond_t g_job_cond;
 void *job_thread(void *p)
 {
 	CommonLock(&g_job_mutex);
-	while(1)
+	while(!g_exiting)
 	{
 		job_update();
 		pthread_cond_wait(&g_job_cond, &g_job_mutex);
diff --git a/stratum/rpc.cpp b/stratum/rpc.cpp
index f81dce0..66f857d 100644
--- a/stratum/rpc.cpp
+++ b/stratum/rpc.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ bool rpc_connected(YAAMP_RPC *rpc)
 bool rpc_connect(YAAMP_RPC *rpc)
 {
 	rpc_close(rpc);
+	if(g_exiting) return false;
 
 	struct hostent *ent = gethostbyname(rpc->host);
 	if(!ent) return false;
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ char *rpc_do_call(YAAMP_RPC *rpc, char const *data)
 	int bufpos = 0;
 	char buffer[YAAMP_SMALLBUFSIZE] = { 0 };
 
-	while(1)
+	while(!g_exiting)
 	{
 		int bytes = recv(rpc->sock, buffer+bufpos, YAAMP_SMALLBUFSIZE-bufpos-1, 0);
 #ifdef RPC_DEBUGLOG_
diff --git a/stratum/stratum.cpp b/stratum/stratum.cpp
index d61dfd9..e9f6950 100644
--- a/stratum/stratum.cpp
+++ b/stratum/stratum.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ pthread_mutex_t g_job_create_mutex;
 
 struct ifaddrs *g_ifaddr;
 
+volatile bool g_exiting = false;
+
 void *stratum_thread(void *p);
 void *monitor_thread(void *p);
 
@@ -238,10 +240,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	pthread_t thread2;
 	pthread_create(&thread2, NULL, stratum_thread, NULL);
 
-	while(1)
-	{
-		sleep(20);
+	sleep(20);
 
+	while(!g_exiting)
+	{
 		db_register_stratum(db);
 		db_update_workers(db);
 		db_update_algos(db);
@@ -274,9 +276,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		object_prune(&g_list_worker, worker_delete);
 		object_prune(&g_list_share, share_delete);
 		object_prune(&g_list_submit, submit_delete);
+
+		if (!g_exiting) sleep(20);
 	}
 
+	stratumlog("closing database...\n");
 	db_close(db);
+
+	pthread_join(thread2, NULL);
+	db_close(g_db); // client threads (called by stratum one)
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -284,14 +293,15 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 void *monitor_thread(void *p)
 {
-	while(1)
+	while(!g_exiting)
 	{
 		sleep(120);
 
 		if(g_last_broadcasted + YAAMP_MAXJOBDELAY < time(NULL))
 		{
+			g_exiting = true;
 			stratumlog("%s dead lock, exiting...\n", g_current_algo->name);
-			exit(1);
+			// exit(1);
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -320,7 +330,7 @@ void *stratum_thread(void *p)
 
 	/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-	while(1)
+	while(!g_exiting)
 	{
 		int sock = accept(listen_sock, NULL, NULL);
 		if(sock <= 0)
diff --git a/stratum/stratum.h b/stratum/stratum.h
index 5efab17..f828f0f 100644
--- a/stratum/stratum.h
+++ b/stratum/stratum.h
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ extern pthread_mutex_t g_db_mutex;
 extern pthread_mutex_t g_nonce1_mutex;
 extern pthread_mutex_t g_job_create_mutex;
 
+extern volatile bool g_exiting;
+
 #include "db.h"
 #include "object.h"
 #include "socket.h"