diff --git a/c-backend/src/main.c b/c-backend/src/main.c
index 6809c7f..89183d3 100644
--- a/c-backend/src/main.c
+++ b/c-backend/src/main.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ static void on_disconnect(void *ctx) {
 
 /* ── Signal handler ───────────────────────────────────────────────── */
 
-static volatile int g_running = 1;
+static volatile sig_atomic_t g_running = 1;
 static void on_signal(int sig) { (void)sig; g_running = 0; }
 
 /* ── Entry point ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
@@ -190,12 +190,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	signal(SIGINT,  on_signal);
-	signal(SIGTERM, on_signal);
+	struct sigaction sa = { .sa_handler = on_signal, .sa_flags = 0 };
+	sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
+	sigaction(SIGINT,  &sa, NULL);
+	sigaction(SIGTERM, &sa, NULL);
 
 	fprintf(stderr, "midi-sequencer ready, waiting for node client\n");
 	while (g_running) {
-		sleep(1);
+		pause();  /* sleep until any signal; returns immediately on SIGINT/SIGTERM */
 	}
 
 	fprintf(stderr, "midi-sequencer shutting down\n");
diff --git a/c-backend/src/socket_server.c b/c-backend/src/socket_server.c
index 8e7dfdd..f7ad0e8 100644
--- a/c-backend/src/socket_server.c
+++ b/c-backend/src/socket_server.c
@@ -127,9 +127,15 @@ int socket_server_start(Socket_Server *srv, const char *path,
 
 void socket_server_stop(Socket_Server *srv) {
 	atomic_store(&srv->running, 0);
+	/* shutdown before close to reliably unblock accept() in accept_thread */
+	shutdown(srv->sock_fd, SHUT_RDWR);
 	close(srv->sock_fd);
 	int fd = atomic_exchange(&srv->client_fd, -1);
-	if (fd >= 0) close(fd);
+	if (fd >= 0) {
+		/* shutdown before close to reliably unblock read() in read_thread */
+		shutdown(fd, SHUT_RDWR);
+		close(fd);
+	}
 	pthread_join(srv->accept_thread, NULL);
 	pthread_join(srv->read_thread, NULL);
 	pthread_mutex_destroy(&srv->write_mutex);