diff --git a/miner/worker.go b/miner/worker.go
index bd3f7ddee5..b86325635c 100644
--- a/miner/worker.go
+++ b/miner/worker.go
@@ -1159,6 +1159,10 @@ func (w *worker) commitNewWork(interrupt *int32, noempty bool, timestamp int64)
 	w.mu.RLock()
 	defer w.mu.RUnlock()
 
+	if !w.isRunning() {
+		return
+	}
+
 	tstart := time.Now()
 	parent := w.chain.CurrentBlock()
 	w.circuitCapacityChecker.Reset()
diff --git a/params/version.go b/params/version.go
index f9e42c8244..8e46982c0a 100644
--- a/params/version.go
+++ b/params/version.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 const (
 	VersionMajor = 4         // Major version component of the current release
 	VersionMinor = 3         // Minor version component of the current release
-	VersionPatch = 40        // Patch version component of the current release
+	VersionPatch = 41        // Patch version component of the current release
 	VersionMeta  = "sepolia" // Version metadata to append to the version string
 )