diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c197e9e6..df610cf3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ install.completions:
 
 install.systemd:
 	install -D -m 644 contrib/systemd/ocid.service $(PREFIX)/lib/systemd/system/ocid.service
+	install -D -m 644 contrib/systemd/ocid-shutdown.service $(PREFIX)/lib/systemd/system/ocid-shutdown.service
 
 uninstall:
 	rm -f $(BINDIR)/ocid
diff --git a/contrib/systemd/ocid-shutdown.service b/contrib/systemd/ocid-shutdown.service
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eff6a11f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/systemd/ocid-shutdown.service
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Shutdown OCID containers before shutting down the system
+Wants=ocid.service
+After=ocid.service
+Documentation=man:ocid(8)
+
+[Service]
+Type=oneshot
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/true
+ExecStop=mkdir -p /var/lib/ocid; touch /var/lib/ocid/ocid.shutdown
+RemainAfterExit=yes
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/server/sandbox_remove.go b/server/sandbox_remove.go
index bf7d18cb..b361a7ef 100644
--- a/server/sandbox_remove.go
+++ b/server/sandbox_remove.go
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ func (s *Server) RemovePodSandbox(ctx context.Context, req *pb.RemovePodSandboxR
 		cState := s.runtime.ContainerStatus(c)
 		if cState.Status == oci.ContainerStateCreated || cState.Status == oci.ContainerStateRunning {
 			if err := s.runtime.StopContainer(c); err != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to stop container %s: %v", c.Name(), err)
+				// Assume container is already stopped
+				logrus.Warnf("failed to stop container %s: %v", c.Name(), err)
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -107,3 +108,17 @@ func (s *Server) RemovePodSandbox(ctx context.Context, req *pb.RemovePodSandboxR
 	logrus.Debugf("RemovePodSandboxResponse %+v", resp)
 	return resp, nil
 }
+
+// RemoveAllPodSandboxes removes all pod sandboxes
+func (s *Server) RemoveAllPodSandboxes() {
+	logrus.Debugf("RemoveAllPodSandboxes")
+	s.Update()
+	for _, sb := range s.state.sandboxes {
+		pod := &pb.RemovePodSandboxRequest{
+			PodSandboxId: sb.id,
+		}
+		if _, err := s.RemovePodSandbox(nil, pod); err != nil {
+			logrus.Warnf("could not RemovePodSandbox %s: %v", sb.id, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index 2710cc13..003dbdd4 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	runtimeAPIVersion = "v1alpha1"
+	shutdownFile      = "/var/lib/ocid/ocid.shutdown"
 )
 
 // Server implements the RuntimeService and ImageService
@@ -431,8 +432,23 @@ func (s *Server) releaseContainerName(name string) {
 	s.ctrNameIndex.Release(name)
 }
 
+// cleanupSandboxesOnShutdown Remove all running Sandboxes on system shutdown
+func (s *Server) cleanupSandboxesOnShutdown() {
+	_, err := os.Stat(shutdownFile)
+	if err == nil || !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		logrus.Debugf("shutting down all sandboxes, on shutdown")
+		s.RemoveAllPodSandboxes()
+		err = os.Remove(shutdownFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.Warnf("Failed to remove %q", shutdownFile)
+		}
+
+	}
+}
+
 // Shutdown attempts to shut down the server's storage cleanly
 func (s *Server) Shutdown() error {
+	s.cleanupSandboxesOnShutdown()
 	_, err := s.store.Shutdown(false)
 	return err
 }
@@ -511,6 +527,7 @@ func New(config *Config) (*Server, error) {
 	}
 
 	s.restore()
+	s.cleanupSandboxesOnShutdown()
 
 	logrus.Debugf("sandboxes: %v", s.state.sandboxes)
 	logrus.Debugf("containers: %v", s.state.containers)