diff --git a/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java b/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java
index fb3c32dbe9bce..ed5870318db36 100644
--- a/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java
+++ b/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
  */
 public class ApplicationLifecycleManager {
 
+    // used by ShutdownEvent to propagate the information about shutdown reason
+    public static volatile ShutdownEvent.ShutdownReason shutdownReason = ShutdownEvent.ShutdownReason.STANDARD;
     private static volatile BiConsumer<Integer, Throwable> defaultExitCodeHandler = new BiConsumer<Integer, Throwable>() {
         @Override
         public void accept(Integer integer, Throwable cause) {
@@ -408,6 +410,8 @@ public void run() {
             //we let the application main thread take care of actually exiting
             //TODO: if the main thread is not actively waiting to exit should we interrupt it?
             shutdownRequested = true;
+            // so long as this thread is invoked, the app shutdown is considered non-standard
+            shutdownReason = ShutdownEvent.ShutdownReason.NON_STANDARD;
             try {
                 stateCond.signalAll();
             } finally {
diff --git a/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ShutdownEvent.java b/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ShutdownEvent.java
index 4583447e96430..8033a11bb7ba9 100644
--- a/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ShutdownEvent.java
+++ b/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ShutdownEvent.java
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 package io.quarkus.runtime;
 
 /**
- * Event that is fired before shutdown.
+ * Event that is fired before shutdown and can be inspected for shutdown cause.
+ * See {@link ShutdownEvent#isStandardShutdown()}
  *
  * This event is observed as follows:
  *
@@ -14,4 +15,43 @@
  * The annotated method can access other injected beans.
  */
 public class ShutdownEvent {
+
+    private ShutdownReason shutdownReason;
+
+    public ShutdownEvent() {
+        this.shutdownReason = ShutdownReason.STANDARD;
+    }
+
+    public ShutdownEvent(ShutdownReason shutdownReason) {
+        this.shutdownReason = shutdownReason;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns {@code true} if the application shutdown is considered standard; i.e. by exiting {@code main()} method or
+     * executing either {@link Quarkus#asyncExit()} or {@link Quarkus#blockingExit()}.
+     * <p>
+     * All other cases are non-standard - {@code SIGINT}, {@code SIGTERM}, {@code System.exit(n} and so on.
+     * Sending {@code CTRL + C} to running app in terminal is also non-standard shutdown.
+     *
+     * @return true if the app shutdown was standard, false otherwise
+     */
+    public boolean isStandardShutdown() {
+        return shutdownReason.equals(ShutdownReason.STANDARD);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * An enum with values reflecting the reason for application shutdown.
+     */
+    enum ShutdownReason {
+        /**
+         * When {@code main()} method exits or when either {@link Quarkus#asyncExit()} or
+         * {@link Quarkus#blockingExit()} was executed
+         */
+        STANDARD,
+        /**
+         * All other cases - {@code SIGINT}, {@code SIGTERM}, {@code System.exit(n} and so on.
+         * This includes sending {@code CTRL + C} to running app in terminal.
+         */
+        NON_STANDARD;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/extensions/arc/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/runtime/ArcRecorder.java b/extensions/arc/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/runtime/ArcRecorder.java
index 2f48f6ec8c526..b7859ac82f432 100644
--- a/extensions/arc/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/runtime/ArcRecorder.java
+++ b/extensions/arc/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/runtime/ArcRecorder.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import io.quarkus.arc.InjectableBean.Kind;
 import io.quarkus.arc.impl.ArcContainerImpl;
 import io.quarkus.arc.runtime.test.PreloadedTestApplicationClassPredicate;
+import io.quarkus.runtime.ApplicationLifecycleManager;
 import io.quarkus.runtime.LaunchMode;
 import io.quarkus.runtime.RuntimeValue;
 import io.quarkus.runtime.ShutdownContext;
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ public void handleLifecycleEvents(ShutdownContext context, LaunchMode launchMode
         context.addShutdownTask(new Runnable() {
             @Override
             public void run() {
-                fireLifecycleEvent(container, new ShutdownEvent(), mockBeanClasses);
+                fireLifecycleEvent(container, new ShutdownEvent(ApplicationLifecycleManager.shutdownReason), mockBeanClasses);
             }
         });
     }