diff --git a/python/qemu/machine/machine.py b/python/qemu/machine/machine.py
index 6f1374a755..748a0d807c 100644
--- a/python/qemu/machine/machine.py
+++ b/python/qemu/machine/machine.py
@@ -547,6 +547,12 @@ def _soft_shutdown(self, timeout: Optional[int]) -> None:
             finally:
                 # Regardless, we want to quiesce the connection.
                 self._close_qmp_connection()
+        elif not self._quit_issued:
+            LOG.debug(
+                "Not anticipating QEMU quit and no QMP connection present, "
+                "issuing SIGTERM"
+            )
+            self._subp.terminate()
 
         # May raise subprocess.TimeoutExpired
         LOG.debug(