diff --git a/parsl/executors/high_throughput/executor.py b/parsl/executors/high_throughput/executor.py
index 882776cf5c..d3fa522619 100644
--- a/parsl/executors/high_throughput/executor.py
+++ b/parsl/executors/high_throughput/executor.py
@@ -331,6 +331,9 @@ def __init__(self,
             interchange_launch_cmd = DEFAULT_INTERCHANGE_LAUNCH_CMD
         self.interchange_launch_cmd = interchange_launch_cmd
 
+        self._result_queue_thread_exit = threading.Event()
+        self._result_queue_thread: Optional[threading.Thread] = None
+
     radio_mode = "htex"
     enable_mpi_mode: bool = False
     mpi_launcher: str = "mpiexec"
@@ -455,9 +458,11 @@ def _result_queue_worker(self):
         """
         logger.debug("Result queue worker starting")
 
-        while not self.bad_state_is_set:
+        while not self.bad_state_is_set and not self._result_queue_thread_exit.is_set():
             try:
-                msgs = self.incoming_q.get()
+                msgs = self.incoming_q.get(timeout_ms=self.poll_period)
+                if msgs is None:  # timeout
+                    continue
 
             except IOError as e:
                 logger.exception("Caught broken queue with exception code {}: {}".format(e.errno, e))
@@ -515,6 +520,8 @@ def _result_queue_worker(self):
                     else:
                         raise BadMessage("Message received with unknown type {}".format(msg['type']))
 
+        logger.info("Closing result ZMQ pipe")
+        self.incoming_q.close()
         logger.info("Result queue worker finished")
 
     def _start_local_interchange_process(self) -> None:
@@ -817,6 +824,8 @@ def shutdown(self, timeout: float = 10.0):
 
         logger.info("Attempting HighThroughputExecutor shutdown")
 
+        logger.info("Terminating interchange and result queue thread")
+        self._result_queue_thread_exit.set()
         self.interchange_proc.terminate()
         try:
             self.interchange_proc.wait(timeout=timeout)
@@ -841,6 +850,10 @@ def shutdown(self, timeout: float = 10.0):
             logger.info("Closing command client")
             self.command_client.close()
 
+        logger.info("Waiting for result queue thread exit")
+        if self._result_queue_thread:
+            self._result_queue_thread.join()
+
         logger.info("Finished HighThroughputExecutor shutdown attempt")
 
     def get_usage_information(self):
diff --git a/parsl/executors/high_throughput/zmq_pipes.py b/parsl/executors/high_throughput/zmq_pipes.py
index 54ed8c1da9..a7278cf067 100644
--- a/parsl/executors/high_throughput/zmq_pipes.py
+++ b/parsl/executors/high_throughput/zmq_pipes.py
@@ -206,12 +206,21 @@ def __init__(self, ip_address, port_range, cert_dir: Optional[str] = None):
         self.port = self.results_receiver.bind_to_random_port(tcp_url(ip_address),
                                                               min_port=port_range[0],
                                                               max_port=port_range[1])
+        self.poller = zmq.Poller()
+        self.poller.register(self.results_receiver, zmq.POLLIN)
 
-    def get(self):
+    def get(self, timeout_ms=None):
+        """Get a message from the queue, returning None if timeout expires
+        without a message. timeout is measured in milliseconds.
+        """
         logger.debug("Waiting for ResultsIncoming message")
-        m = self.results_receiver.recv_multipart()
-        logger.debug("Received ResultsIncoming message")
-        return m
+        socks = dict(self.poller.poll(timeout=timeout_ms))
+        if self.results_receiver in socks and socks[self.results_receiver] == zmq.POLLIN:
+            m = self.results_receiver.recv_multipart()
+            logger.debug("Received ResultsIncoming message")
+            return m
+        else:
+            return None
 
     def close(self):
         self.results_receiver.close()