diff --git a/scripts/run.sh b/scripts/run.sh
index a56fb6a..68b382c 100755
--- a/scripts/run.sh
+++ b/scripts/run.sh
@@ -2,14 +2,31 @@
 RECOVERY_DONE_FILE="/var/pv/"$PITR_UNIX_TIME"_recovery.done"
 PITR_RS=${PITR_REPLICATION_STRATEGY:-none}
 STOP=false
-# don't restart postgres on SIGTERM (eg, pod deleted)
+# don't restart postgres on SIGTERM (eg, pod deleted), and stop supervising once
+# the signal arrives, so this script (the container's main process) EXITS.
+#
+# The trap alone is not enough: it only tells the loop below not to start postgres
+# again. With `while true` the loop kept spinning forever after that, the container
+# never exited on its own, and kubelet had no choice but to wait out the whole
+# terminationGracePeriodSeconds and SIGKILL. Two consequences, both observed live:
+# pod deletions blocked for the entire grace period (5 minutes on a DB that sets
+# 300), and on the default 30s grace a postgres shutdown checkpoint slower than
+# that got SIGKILLed midway, leaving a data directory that needs crash recovery.
+#
+# STOP is only ever set by a signal delivered to THIS bash process, which in
+# practice means kubelet stopping the container. The coordinator stops postgres
+# with `pg_ctl stop` exec'd into the container (and kills nothing else by name or
+# process group), so its shutdowns do not reach this process: the loop keeps
+# retrying and re-runs the role script when the coordinator writes the next one,
+# exactly as before. Verified live: a single container instance served 17 role
+# script starts with no restart.
 # ref: https://opensource.com/article/20/6/bash-trap
 trap \
     "{ STOP=true; }" \
     SIGINT SIGTERM EXIT
 
 if [[ "$PITR_RESTORE" == "true" ]]; then
-    while true; do
+    while [[ "$STOP" = false ]]; do
       sleep 2
       echo "Point In Time Recovery In Progress. Waiting for $RECOVERY_DONE_FILE file"
       if [[ -e "$RECOVERY_DONE_FILE" ]]; then
@@ -22,7 +39,7 @@ fi
 #going to change this with the check of process id
 rm -f "$PGDATA"/postmaster.pid
 echo "waiting for the role to be decided ..."
-while true; do
+while [[ "$STOP" = false ]]; do
   # Robust /var/pv mount availability check before any destructive operation or basebackup
     if [[ -e /var/pv/BOOTSTRAP_INITIALIZATION_STARTED ]]; then
         rm /var/pv/BOOTSTRAP_INITIALIZATION_STARTED