diff --git a/src/namespace.c b/src/namespace.c
index cfb81ba0f..f23da48f8 100644
--- a/src/namespace.c
+++ b/src/namespace.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include <common/hash.h>
 #include <common/errors.h>
 #include <proto/log.h>
+#include <proto/signal.h>
 #include <types/global.h>
 
 /* Opens the namespace <ns_name> and returns the FD or -1 in case of error
@@ -39,6 +40,24 @@ static int init_default_namespace()
 
 static struct eb_root namespace_tree_root = EB_ROOT;
 
+static void netns_sig_stop(struct sig_handler *sh)
+{
+	struct ebpt_node *node, *next;
+	struct netns_entry *entry;
+
+	/* close namespace file descriptors and remove registered namespaces from the
+	 * tree when stopping */
+	node = ebpt_first(&namespace_tree_root);
+	while (node) {
+		next = ebpt_next(node);
+		ebpt_delete(node);
+		entry = container_of(node, struct netns_entry, node);
+		free(entry->node.key);
+		close(entry->fd);
+		node = next;
+	}
+}
+
 int netns_init(void)
 {
 	int err_code = 0;
@@ -55,6 +74,8 @@ int netns_init(void)
 		}
 	}
 
+	signal_register_fct(0, netns_sig_stop, 0);
+
 	return err_code;
 }