diff --git a/core/blockchain.go b/core/blockchain.go
index d8b101f616..a3fdb8b1cb 100644
--- a/core/blockchain.go
+++ b/core/blockchain.go
@@ -1956,6 +1956,11 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) processBlock(parentRoot common.Hash, block *types.Block, s
 	)
 	defer interrupt.Store(true) // terminate the prefetch at the end
 
+	// Short circuit if shutting down
+	if bc.insertStopped() {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("block processing interrupted during shutdown")
+	}
+
 	if bc.cfg.NoPrefetch {
 		statedb, err = state.New(parentRoot, bc.statedb)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -2006,6 +2011,10 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) processBlock(parentRoot common.Hash, block *types.Block, s
 		}(time.Now(), throwaway, block)
 	}
 
+	if bc.insertStopped() {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("block processing interrupted during shutdown")
+	}
+
 	// If we are past Byzantium, enable prefetching to pull in trie node paths
 	// while processing transactions. Before Byzantium the prefetcher is mostly
 	// useless due to the intermediate root hashing after each transaction.
@@ -2046,6 +2055,10 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) processBlock(parentRoot common.Hash, block *types.Block, s
 	}
 	ptime := time.Since(pstart)
 
+	if bc.insertStopped() {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("block processing interrupted during shutdown")
+	}
+
 	vstart := time.Now()
 	if err := bc.validator.ValidateState(block, statedb, res, false); err != nil {
 		bc.reportBlock(block, res, err)
@@ -2053,6 +2066,10 @@ func (bc *BlockChain) processBlock(parentRoot common.Hash, block *types.Block, s
 	}
 	vtime := time.Since(vstart)
 
+	if bc.insertStopped() {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("block processing interrupted during shutdown")
+	}
+
 	// If witnesses was generated and stateless self-validation requested, do
 	// that now. Self validation should *never* run in production, it's more of
 	// a tight integration to enable running *all* consensus tests through the
diff --git a/core/blockchain_test.go b/core/blockchain_test.go
index f47e922e18..740861ac59 100644
--- a/core/blockchain_test.go
+++ b/core/blockchain_test.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"math/rand"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -4407,3 +4408,45 @@ func testInsertChainWithCutoff(t *testing.T, cutoff uint64, ancientLimit uint64,
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// TestBlockProcessingInterrupt tests graceful shutdown during block processing
+func TestBlockProcessingInterrupt(t *testing.T) {
+	testBlockProcessingInterrupt(t, rawdb.HashScheme)
+	testBlockProcessingInterrupt(t, rawdb.PathScheme)
+}
+
+func testBlockProcessingInterrupt(t *testing.T, scheme string) {
+	var (
+		genesis = &Genesis{
+			BaseFee: big.NewInt(params.InitialBaseFee),
+			Config:  params.AllEthashProtocolChanges,
+		}
+		engine = ethash.NewFaker()
+	)
+
+	options := DefaultConfig().WithStateScheme(scheme)
+	blockchain, _ := NewBlockChain(rawdb.NewMemoryDatabase(), genesis, engine, options)
+	defer blockchain.Stop()
+
+	genDb, blocks := makeBlockChainWithGenesis(genesis, 1, engine, canonicalSeed)
+	defer genDb.Close()
+
+	// Test interrupt during block processing
+	blockchain.InterruptInsert(true)
+	parent := blockchain.genesisBlock.Header()
+	_, err := blockchain.processBlock(parent.Root, blocks[0], true, false)
+
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("Expected block processing to be interrupted, but it succeeded")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(fmt.Sprintf("%v", err), "block processing interrupted during shutdown") {
+		t.Errorf("Expected 'block processing interrupted during shutdown' error, got: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Test processing works after reset
+	blockchain.InterruptInsert(false)
+	_, err = blockchain.processBlock(parent.Root, blocks[0], true, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Failed to process block after reset: %v", err)
+	}
+}