diff --git a/control/server.py b/control/server.py
index 6a30536c..98c9384f 100644
--- a/control/server.py
+++ b/control/server.py
@@ -95,8 +95,10 @@ def __enter__(self):
 
     def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback):
         """Cleans up SPDK and server instances."""
-        if exc_type is not None:
+        if exc_type is not None and exc_type is not SystemExit:
             self.logger.exception("GatewayServer exception occurred:")
+        else:
+            self.logger.info("GatewayServer is terminating gracefully...")
 
         gw_name = self.name
         gw_logger = self.gw_logger_object
@@ -432,8 +434,8 @@ def _stop_subprocess(self, proc, timeout):
             self.logger.error(f"{self.name} pid {proc.pid} "
                               f"already terminated, exit code: {return_code}")
         else:
-            self.logger.info(f"Aborting ({self.name}) pid {proc.pid}...")
-            proc.send_signal(signal.SIGABRT)
+            self.logger.info(f"Terminating sub process of ({self.name}) pid {proc.pid} args {proc.args} ...")
+            proc.terminate()
 
         try:
             proc.communicate(timeout=timeout)
diff --git a/tests/test_server.py b/tests/test_server.py
index e10cdb47..2cd63ed5 100644
--- a/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_server.py
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ def validate_exception(self, e):
         assert(pid > 0)
         assert(code == 1)
 
-    def assert_core_files(self, directory_path):
+    def assert_no_core_files(self, directory_path):
         assert(os.path.exists(directory_path) and os.path.isdir(directory_path))
         files = [f for f in os.listdir(directory_path) if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(directory_path, f)) and f.startswith("core.")]
-        assert(len(files) > 0)
+        assert(len(files) == 0)
 
     def test_spdk_exception(self):
         """Tests spdk sub process exiting with error."""
@@ -38,15 +38,15 @@ def test_spdk_exception(self):
                 gateway.serve()
         self.validate_exception(cm.exception)
 
-    def test_spdk_abort(self):
-        """Tests spdk sub process dumps core on during normal shutdown."""
+    def test_no_coredumps_on_gracefull_shutdown(self):
+        """Tests gateway's sub processes do not dump cores on gracefull shutdown."""
         with GatewayServer(copy.deepcopy(self.config)) as gateway:
             gateway.set_group_id(0)
             gateway.serve()
             time.sleep(10)
-        # exited context, spdk process should be aborted here by __exit__()
+        # exited context, sub processes should terminate gracefully
         time.sleep(10) # let it dump
-        self.assert_core_files("/tmp/coredump")
+        self.assert_no_core_files("/tmp/coredump")
 
     def test_spdk_multi_gateway_exception(self):
         """Tests spdk sub process exiting with error, in multi gateway configuration."""