diff --git a/src/event/quic/ngx_event_quic.c b/src/event/quic/ngx_event_quic.c
index 0032a5505..b23434c0e 100644
--- a/src/event/quic/ngx_event_quic.c
+++ b/src/event/quic/ngx_event_quic.c
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ ngx_quic_input_handler(ngx_event_t *rev)
     if (c->close) {
         c->close = 0;
 
-        if (!ngx_exiting) {
+        if (!ngx_exiting || !qc->streams.initialized) {
             qc->error = NGX_QUIC_ERR_NO_ERROR;
             qc->error_reason = "graceful shutdown";
             ngx_quic_close_connection(c, NGX_ERROR);