diff --git a/endpoints/v1/__init__.py b/endpoints/v1/__init__.py
index 1407a1b25..18ef430c4 100644
--- a/endpoints/v1/__init__.py
+++ b/endpoints/v1/__init__.py
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@ from flask import Blueprint, make_response
 
 from app import metric_queue, license_validator
 from endpoints.decorators import anon_protect, anon_allowed
-from util.license import enforce_license_before_request
 from util.metrics.metricqueue import time_blueprint
 
 
 v1_bp = Blueprint('v1', __name__)
-enforce_license_before_request(license_validator, v1_bp)
+license_validator.enforce_license_before_request(v1_bp)
 time_blueprint(v1_bp, metric_queue)
 
 
diff --git a/endpoints/v2/__init__.py b/endpoints/v2/__init__.py
index dda9baca4..aab985353 100644
--- a/endpoints/v2/__init__.py
+++ b/endpoints/v2/__init__.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ from data import model
 from endpoints.decorators import anon_protect, anon_allowed
 from endpoints.v2.errors import V2RegistryException, Unauthorized
 from util.http import abort
-from util.license import enforce_license_before_request
 from util.metrics.metricqueue import time_blueprint
 from util.registry.dockerver import docker_version
 from util.pagination import encrypt_page_token, decrypt_page_token
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 v2_bp = Blueprint('v2', __name__)
-enforce_license_before_request(license_validator, v2_bp)
+license_validator.enforce_license_before_request(v2_bp)
 time_blueprint(v2_bp, metric_queue)
 
 
diff --git a/endpoints/verbs/__init__.py b/endpoints/verbs/__init__.py
index 87e4fa644..d7c8e248b 100644
--- a/endpoints/verbs/__init__.py
+++ b/endpoints/verbs/__init__.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ from endpoints.v2.blob import BLOB_DIGEST_ROUTE
 from image.appc import AppCImageFormatter
 from image.docker.squashed import SquashedDockerImageFormatter
 from storage import Storage
-from util.license import enforce_license_before_request
 from util.registry.filelike import wrap_with_handler
 from util.registry.queuefile import QueueFile
 from util.registry.queueprocess import QueueProcess
@@ -29,7 +28,7 @@ from util.registry.torrent import (make_torrent, per_user_torrent_filename, publ
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 verbs = Blueprint('verbs', __name__)
-enforce_license_before_request(license_validator, verbs)
+license_validator.enforce_license_before_request(verbs)
 
 
 def _open_stream(formatter, namespace, repository, tag, derived_image_id, repo_image, handlers):
diff --git a/util/license.py b/util/license.py
index 62a0b97b6..85a77ff3c 100644
--- a/util/license.py
+++ b/util/license.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from threading import Thread
 from cryptography.hazmat.backends import default_backend
 from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.serialization import load_pem_public_key
 from dateutil import parser
-from flask import abort
+from flask import make_response
 
 import jwt
 
@@ -167,13 +167,14 @@ class LicenseValidator(Thread):
   This thread is meant to be run before registry gunicorn workers fork and uses shared memory as a
   synchronization primitive.
   """
-  def __init__(self, license_path):
+  def __init__(self, license_path, *args, **kwargs):
     self._license_path = license_path
 
     # multiprocessing.Value does not ensure consistent write-after-reads, but we don't need that.
     self._license_is_expired = multiprocessing.Value(c_bool, True)
 
-    super(LicenseValidator, self).__init__()
+    super(LicenseValidator, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+    self.daemon = True
 
   @property
   def expired(self):
@@ -183,13 +184,15 @@ class LicenseValidator(Thread):
     try:
       with open(self._license_path) as f:
         current_license = decode_license(f.read())
-        logger.debug('updating license expiration to %s', current_license.is_expired)
-        self._license_is_expired.value = current_license.is_expired
-        return current_license.is_expired
+        is_expired = current_license.is_expired
+        logger.debug('updating license expiration to %s', is_expired)
+        self._license_is_expired.value = is_expired
     except (IOError, LicenseError):
       logger.exception('failed to validate license')
-      self._license_is_expired.value = True
-      return True
+      is_expired = True
+      self._license_is_expired.value = is_expired
+
+    return is_expired
 
   def run(self):
     logger.debug('Starting license validation thread')
@@ -199,13 +202,18 @@ class LicenseValidator(Thread):
       logger.debug('waiting %d seconds before retrying to validate license', sleep_time)
       time.sleep(sleep_time)
 
+  def enforce_license_before_request(self, blueprint, response_func=None):
+    """
+    Adds a pre-check to a Flask blueprint such that if the provided license_validator determines the
+    license has become invalid, the client will receive a HTTP 402 response.
+    """
+    if response_func is None:
+      def _response_func():
+        return make_response('License has expired.', 402)
+      response_func = _response_func
 
-def enforce_license_before_request(license_validator, blueprint):
-  """
-  Adds a pre-check to a Flask blueprint such that if the provided license_validator determines the
-  license has become invalid, the client will receive a HTTP 402 response.
-  """
-  def _enforce_license():
-    if license_validator.expired:
-      abort(402)
-  blueprint.before_request(_enforce_license)
+    def _enforce_license():
+      if self.expired:
+        logger.debug('blocked interaction due to expired license')
+        return response_func()
+    blueprint.before_request(_enforce_license)