diff --git a/src/tor/TorControl.cpp b/src/tor/TorControl.cpp
index 106244b01..ed4a3f417 100644
--- a/src/tor/TorControl.cpp
+++ b/src/tor/TorControl.cpp
@@ -535,16 +535,28 @@ void TorControl::shutdown()
 
 void TorControl::shutdownSync()
 {
+
     if (!hasOwnership()) {
         RsWarn() << "torctrl: Ignoring shutdown command for a tor instance I don't own";
         return;
     }
-
     shutdown();
-    while (mSocket->moretowrite(0))
+    
+    // Add timeout to prevent infinite wait
+    int timeout_cnt = 0;
+    const int MAX_WAIT_ITERATIONS = 50; // 5 seconds max (50 * 100ms)
+    
+    while (mSocket->moretowrite(0) && timeout_cnt < MAX_WAIT_ITERATIONS) {
         std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
-
+        timeout_cnt++;
+    }
+    
+    if (timeout_cnt >= MAX_WAIT_ITERATIONS) {
+        RsWarn() << "torctrl: Timeout waiting for socket to flush during shutdown, forcing close";
+    }
+    
     mSocket->close();
+
 }
 
 void TorControl::statusEvent(int /* code */, const ByteArray &data)
diff --git a/src/tor/TorControlSocket.cpp b/src/tor/TorControlSocket.cpp
index ccf74b344..6446adfe8 100644
--- a/src/tor/TorControlSocket.cpp
+++ b/src/tor/TorControlSocket.cpp
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ ByteArray TorControlSocket::readline(int s)
 
 void TorControlSocket::process()
 {
+
+    int empty_line_cnt = 0;
+    const int MAX_EMPTY_RETRIES = 20;
+
     for (;;) {
         if (!moretoread(0))
             return;
@@ -134,10 +138,15 @@ void TorControlSocket::process()
 
         if(line.empty())	// This happens when the incoming buffer isn't empty yet doesn't have a full line already.
         {
+            if (++empty_line_cnt > MAX_EMPTY_RETRIES || shouldStop()) {
+                return;  // Give up after timeout or stop request
+            }
             std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(50));
             continue;
         }
 
+        empty_line_cnt = 0; // reset
+
         if (!line.endsWith(ByteArray("\r\n"))) {
             setError("Invalid control message syntax");
             return;
@@ -225,12 +234,12 @@ void TorControlSocket::process()
 int TorControlSocket::tick()
 {
     bool rw = RsTcpSocket::tick();
-
     if(moretoread(0))
         process();
-
+    
     if(!rw)
-        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(1000));	// temporisation when nothing happens
-
-    return 0;	// not sure about what we should return here.
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(50)); // Much shorter sleep
+    
+    return 0;
 }
+