diff --git a/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h b/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
index 1843c4f0b..3842a505c 100644
--- a/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
+++ b/deltachat-ffi/deltachat.h
@@ -562,9 +562,12 @@ void            dc_start_io     (dc_context_t* context);
 int             dc_is_io_running(const dc_context_t* context);
 
 /**
- * Stop job and IMAP/SMTP tasks and return when they are finished. 
- * If IO is not running, nothing happens.
+ * Stop job, IMAP, SMTP and other tasks and return when they
+ * are finished.
  * To check the current IO state, use dc_is_io_running().
+ * Even if IO is not running, there may be pending tasks,
+ * so this function should always be called before releasing
+ * context to ensure clean termination of event loop.
  *
  * If the context was created by the dc_accounts_t account manager,
  * use dc_accounts_stop_io() instead of this function.
@@ -2373,7 +2376,6 @@ void           dc_accounts_start_io             (dc_accounts_t* accounts);
 
 /**
  * Stop job and IMAP/SMTP tasks for all accounts and return when they are finished.
- * If IO is not running, nothing happens.
  * This is similar to dc_stop_io(), which, however,
  * must not be called for accounts handled by the account manager.
  *
diff --git a/src/context.rs b/src/context.rs
index b070a3a56..ac7a62b35 100644
--- a/src/context.rs
+++ b/src/context.rs
@@ -163,10 +163,6 @@ impl Context {
     /// Stops the IO scheduler.
     pub async fn stop_io(&self) {
         info!(self, "stopping IO");
-        if !self.is_io_running().await {
-            info!(self, "IO is not running");
-            return;
-        }
 
         self.inner.stop_io().await;
     }
@@ -483,14 +479,19 @@ impl InnerContext {
     }
 
     async fn stop_io(&self) {
-        assert!(self.is_io_running().await, "context is already stopped");
-        let token = {
-            let lock = &*self.scheduler.read().await;
-            lock.pre_stop().await
-        };
-        {
-            let lock = &mut *self.scheduler.write().await;
-            lock.stop(token).await;
+        if self.is_io_running().await {
+            let token = {
+                let lock = &*self.scheduler.read().await;
+                lock.pre_stop().await
+            };
+            {
+                let lock = &mut *self.scheduler.write().await;
+                lock.stop(token).await;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if let Some(ephemeral_task) = self.ephemeral_task.write().await.take() {
+            ephemeral_task.cancel().await;
         }
     }
 }