diff --git a/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp b/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp
index 024a662ff..bb0deeb41 100644
--- a/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp
+++ b/ur_robot_driver/src/hardware_interface.cpp
@@ -470,13 +470,15 @@ URPositionHardwareInterface::on_activate(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous
 }
 
 hardware_interface::CallbackReturn
-URPositionHardwareInterface::on_deactivate(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state)
+URPositionHardwareInterface::on_cleanup(const rclcpp_lifecycle::State& previous_state)
 {
   RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("URPositionHardwareInterface"), "Stopping ...please wait...");
 
-  async_thread_shutdown_ = true;
-  async_thread_->join();
-  async_thread_.reset();
+  if (async_thread_) {
+    async_thread_shutdown_ = true;
+    async_thread_->join();
+    async_thread_.reset();
+  }
 
   ur_driver_.reset();