diff --git a/hw/char/riscv_htif.c b/hw/char/riscv_htif.c
index 40de6b8b77..9bef60def1 100644
--- a/hw/char/riscv_htif.c
+++ b/hw/char/riscv_htif.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include "exec/address-spaces.h"
 #include "exec/tswap.h"
 #include "sysemu/dma.h"
+#include "sysemu/runstate.h"
 
 #define RISCV_DEBUG_HTIF 0
 #define HTIF_DEBUG(fmt, ...)                                                   \
@@ -206,7 +207,9 @@ static void htif_handle_tohost_write(HTIFState *s, uint64_t val_written)
                     g_free(sig_data);
                 }
 
-                exit(exit_code);
+                qemu_system_shutdown_request_with_code(
+                    SHUTDOWN_CAUSE_GUEST_SHUTDOWN, exit_code);
+                return;
             } else {
                 uint64_t syscall[8];
                 cpu_physical_memory_read(payload, syscall, sizeof(syscall));