diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b45d1e79..ee4badd6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 ## 7.12.1 (unreleased)
 ### Implementation changes and bug fixes
-- [PR #1135](https://github.com/rqlite/rqlite/pull/1135): Ignore explicit join request if there is preexisting state.
+- [PR #1135](https://github.com/rqlite/rqlite/pull/1135): Silently ignore self-joins if nothing has changed on the joining node.
+- [PR #1136](https://github.com/rqlite/rqlite/pull/1136): Stop HTTP server gracefully on node shutdown.
+- [f6c4b17](https://github.com/rqlite/rqlite/commit/f6c4b17a727809696f952a018b2262681932f521): By default, Leader node will stepdown if that node is shutting down.
 
 ## 7.12.0 (December 1st 2022)
 ### New features
diff --git a/cmd/rqlited/flags.go b/cmd/rqlited/flags.go
index d761b01e..9b040eba 100644
--- a/cmd/rqlited/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/rqlited/flags.go
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ func ParseFlags(name, desc string, build *BuildInfo) (*Config, error) {
 	flag.Uint64Var(&config.RaftSnapThreshold, "raft-snap", 8192, "Number of outstanding log entries that trigger snapshot")
 	flag.DurationVar(&config.RaftSnapInterval, "raft-snap-int", 30*time.Second, "Snapshot threshold check interval")
 	flag.DurationVar(&config.RaftLeaderLeaseTimeout, "raft-leader-lease-timeout", 0, "Raft leader lease timeout. Use 0s for Raft default")
-	flag.BoolVar(&config.RaftStepdownOnShutdown, "raft-shutdown-stepdown", false, "Stepdown as leader before shutting down")
+	flag.BoolVar(&config.RaftStepdownOnShutdown, "raft-shutdown-stepdown", true, "Stepdown as leader before shutting down. Enabled by default")
 	flag.BoolVar(&config.RaftShutdownOnRemove, "raft-remove-shutdown", false, "Shutdown Raft if node removed")
 	flag.BoolVar(&config.RaftNoFreelistSync, "raft-no-freelist-sync", false, "Do not sync Raft log database freelist to disk")
 	flag.StringVar(&config.RaftLogLevel, "raft-log-level", "INFO", "Minimum log level for Raft module")
diff --git a/cmd/rqlited/main.go b/cmd/rqlited/main.go
index 104e46cd..679eb251 100644
--- a/cmd/rqlited/main.go
+++ b/cmd/rqlited/main.go
@@ -170,6 +170,8 @@ func main() {
 		// Perform a stepdown, ignore any errors.
 		str.Stepdown(true)
 	}
+
+	httpServ.Close()
 	if err := str.Close(true); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("failed to close store: %s", err.Error())
 	}
diff --git a/http/service.go b/http/service.go
index b15f9d3b..70925089 100644
--- a/http/service.go
+++ b/http/service.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 package http
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -245,9 +246,10 @@ func ResetStats() {
 
 // Service provides HTTP service.
 type Service struct {
-	closeCh chan struct{}
-	addr    string       // Bind address of the HTTP service.
-	ln      net.Listener // Service listener
+	httpServer http.Server
+	closeCh    chan struct{}
+	addr       string       // Bind address of the HTTP service.
+	ln         net.Listener // Service listener
 
 	store Store // The Raft-backed database store.
 
@@ -304,7 +306,7 @@ func New(addr string, store Store, cluster Cluster, credentials CredentialStore)
 
 // Start starts the service.
 func (s *Service) Start() error {
-	server := http.Server{
+	s.httpServer = http.Server{
 		Handler: s,
 	}
 
@@ -337,9 +339,9 @@ func (s *Service) Start() error {
 		s.DefaultQueueCap, s.DefaultQueueBatchSz, s.DefaultQueueTimeout.String())
 
 	go func() {
-		err := server.Serve(s.ln)
+		err := s.httpServer.Serve(s.ln)
 		if err != nil {
-			s.logger.Println("HTTP service Serve() returned:", err.Error())
+			s.logger.Println("HTTP service stopped:", err.Error())
 		}
 	}()
 	s.logger.Println("service listening on", s.Addr())
@@ -349,8 +351,9 @@ func (s *Service) Start() error {
 
 // Close closes the service.
 func (s *Service) Close() {
-	s.stmtQueue.Close()
+	s.httpServer.Shutdown(context.Background())
 
+	s.stmtQueue.Close()
 	select {
 	case <-s.queueDone:
 	default:
diff --git a/store/store.go b/store/store.go
index 7a936660..6bef138b 100644
--- a/store/store.go
+++ b/store/store.go
@@ -415,7 +415,8 @@ func (s *Store) Bootstrap(servers ...*Server) error {
 }
 
 // Stepdown forces this node to relinquish leadership to another node in
-// the cluster. If this node is not the leader an error will be returned.
+// the cluster. If this node is not the leader, and 'wait' is true, an error
+// will be returned.
 func (s *Store) Stepdown(wait bool) error {
 	f := s.raft.LeadershipTransfer()
 	if !wait {