diff --git a/nova/test.py b/nova/test.py
index 98c9978a11..ddbbd33c73 100644
--- a/nova/test.py
+++ b/nova/test.py
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ class TestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
 
         self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.OpenStackSDKFixture())
         self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.IsolatedExecutorFixture(self.id()))
+        self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.DelayingExecutorWrapperCleanupFixture())
 
         self.useFixture(log_fixture.get_logging_handle_error_fixture())
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/fixtures/nova.py b/nova/tests/fixtures/nova.py
index 01a073db6d..2653e0e5ff 100644
--- a/nova/tests/fixtures/nova.py
+++ b/nova/tests/fixtures/nova.py
@@ -2214,3 +2214,36 @@ class RPCPollerCleanupFixture(fixtures.Fixture):
                 'instance in your test case e.g. by using '
                 'self.addCleanup(...). The test started the poller at the '
                 'following place:\n%s' % stack)
+
+
+class DelayingExecutorWrapperCleanupFixture(fixtures.Fixture):
+    def setUp(self):
+        super().setUp()
+
+        orig = utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper.__init__
+
+        def wrapped_init(executor_wrapper, delay, executor):
+            stack = "".join(traceback.format_stack())
+            self.addCleanup(
+                self._check_wrapper_stopped, executor_wrapper, stack)
+            orig(executor_wrapper, delay, executor)
+
+        self.useFixture(
+            fixtures.MonkeyPatch(
+                'nova.utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper.'
+                '__init__', wrapped_init))
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _check_wrapper_stopped(
+        wrapper: utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper,
+        stack: str,
+    ):
+        if wrapper.is_alive:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                'The test case leaked an active '
+                'nova.utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper'
+                'instance. This can lead to unexpected failures in later test '
+                'case. Please ensure that shutdown(wait=true) is called on '
+                'the wrapper before the end of the test case e.g. by using '
+                'self.addCleanup(...). The test instantiated the wrapper at '
+                'the following place:\n%s' % stack)
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/test_utils.py b/nova/tests/unit/test_utils.py
index 1d71693cab..46c109922d 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/test_utils.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/test_utils.py
@@ -2030,6 +2030,7 @@ class StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapperTest(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
         executor = utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
             0.01, utils._get_default_executor())
+        self.addCleanup(executor.shutdown, wait=True)
 
         future1 = executor.submit_with_delay(task1)
         self.assertEqual(42, future1.result())
@@ -2056,6 +2057,7 @@ class StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapperTest(test.NoDBTestCase):
         # the wrapper while we submit the second task
         executor = utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
             2, utils._get_default_executor())
+        self.addCleanup(executor.shutdown, wait=True)
 
         future1 = executor.submit_with_delay(task1)
         task1_start = time.monotonic()
@@ -2147,6 +2149,7 @@ class StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapperTest(test.NoDBTestCase):
         # the wrapper when we cancel it
         executor = utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
             2, utils._get_default_executor())
+        self.addCleanup(executor.shutdown, wait=True)
 
         future1 = executor.submit_with_delay(task1)
         # wait a bit to let the task being picked up
@@ -2220,6 +2223,7 @@ class StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapperTest(test.NoDBTestCase):
     def test_instantaneous_shutdown(self):
         executor = utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
             0.1, utils._get_default_executor())
+        self.addCleanup(executor.shutdown, wait=True)
 
         executor.shutdown(wait=False)
         self.assertTrue(executor._shutdown)
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py
index a3568d3d2d..9d7698282a 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_driver.py
@@ -23296,6 +23296,12 @@ class LibvirtConnTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase,
         expected = '<tcg><tb-cache unit="MiB">10</tb-cache></tcg>'
         self.assertXmlEqual(expected, cfg.features[2].to_xml())
 
+    @mock.patch("nova.virt.libvirt.host.Host.cleanup")
+    def test_cleanup_host(self, mock_cleanup):
+        drvr = libvirt_driver.LibvirtDriver(fake.FakeVirtAPI(), True)
+        drvr.cleanup_host("fake")
+        mock_cleanup.assert_called_once_with()
+
 
 class TestGuestConfigSysinfoSerialOS(test.NoDBTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_host.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_host.py
index 62a2f4f4b4..640034cd4d 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_host.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/libvirt/test_host.py
@@ -73,7 +73,21 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         super(HostTestCase, self).setUp()
 
         self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.LibvirtFixture())
-        self.host = host.Host("qemu:///system")
+        self.host = self._create_host("qemu:///system")
+
+    def _create_host(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        h = host.Host(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.addCleanup(h.cleanup)
+        # We need this explicitly as the majority of the test cases using
+        # a Host object does not care about the event handling thread, and
+        # it is disabled and poisoned. But test cases in this class trying
+        # to cover code there. So we partially instantiate the event handling
+        # logic here and pumping the events in the test cases individually.
+        h._delayed_executor = (
+            utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
+                delay=15, executor=utils._get_default_executor()))
+
+        return h
 
     def test_repeat_initialization(self):
         for i in range(3):
@@ -134,8 +148,10 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         def handler(event):
             got_events.append(event)
 
-        hostimpl = host.Host("qemu:///system",
+        hostimpl = self._create_host("qemu:///system",
                              lifecycle_event_handler=handler)
+        hostimpl.initialize()
+
         got_events = []
 
         event1 = event.LifecycleEvent(
@@ -173,7 +189,7 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     @mock.patch('nova.virt.libvirt.host.Host._event_emit_delayed')
     def test_event_lifecycle(self, mock_emit):
-        hostimpl = host.Host("qemu:///system",
+        hostimpl = self._create_host("qemu:///system",
                              lifecycle_event_handler=lambda e: None)
 
         conn = hostimpl.get_connection()
@@ -283,8 +299,10 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         ev = event.LifecycleEvent(
             "cef19ce0-0ca2-11df-855d-b19fbce37686",
             event.EVENT_LIFECYCLE_STOPPED)
-        hostimpl = host.Host(
+        hostimpl = self._create_host(
             'qemu:///system', lifecycle_event_handler=lambda e: None)
+        hostimpl.initialize()
+
         hostimpl._event_emit_delayed(ev)
         mock_wrapper.assert_called_once_with(
             delay=15, executor=utils._get_default_executor())
@@ -293,7 +311,7 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
     @mock.patch('nova.utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper')
     def test_event_emit_delayed_call_delayed_pending(self, mock_wrapper):
-        hostimpl = host.Host(
+        hostimpl = self._create_host(
             'qemu:///system', lifecycle_event_handler=lambda e: None)
         uuid = "cef19ce0-0ca2-11df-855d-b19fbce37686"
 
@@ -306,7 +324,7 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         self.assertIs(mock_future, hostimpl._events_delayed[uuid])
 
     def test_event_delayed_cleanup(self):
-        hostimpl = host.Host(
+        hostimpl = self._create_host(
             'qemu:///system', lifecycle_event_handler=lambda e: None)
         uuid = "cef19ce0-0ca2-11df-855d-b19fbce37686"
         ev = event.LifecycleEvent(
@@ -317,6 +335,25 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         gt_mock.cancel.assert_called_once_with()
         self.assertNotIn(uuid, hostimpl._events_delayed.keys())
 
+    def test_host_cleanup_cancels_delayed_events(self):
+        hostimpl = self._create_host(
+            'qemu:///system', lifecycle_event_handler=lambda e: None)
+        uuid = "cef19ce0-0ca2-11df-855d-b19fbce37686"
+        ev = event.LifecycleEvent(
+            uuid, event.EVENT_LIFECYCLE_STOPPED)
+
+        hostimpl._event_emit_delayed(ev)
+
+        self.assertIn(uuid, hostimpl._events_delayed)
+        future = hostimpl._events_delayed[uuid]
+        self.assertFalse(future.cancelled())
+        self.assertTrue(hostimpl._delayed_executor.is_alive)
+
+        hostimpl.cleanup()
+
+        self.assertTrue(future.cancelled())
+        self.assertFalse(hostimpl._delayed_executor.is_alive)
+
     def test_device_removed_event(self):
         hostimpl = mock.MagicMock()
         conn = mock.MagicMock()
@@ -418,7 +455,7 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(host.Host, "_connect")
     def test_conn_event(self, mock_conn):
         handler = mock.MagicMock()
-        h = host.Host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=handler)
+        h = self._create_host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=handler)
 
         h.get_connection()
         h._dispatch_conn_event()
@@ -428,7 +465,7 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(host.Host, "_connect")
     def test_conn_event_fail(self, mock_conn):
         handler = mock.MagicMock()
-        h = host.Host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=handler)
+        h = self._create_host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=handler)
         mock_conn.side_effect = fakelibvirt.libvirtError('test')
 
         self.assertRaises(exception.HypervisorUnavailable, h.get_connection)
@@ -451,7 +488,7 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
     @mock.patch.object(host.Host, "_connect")
     def test_conn_event_up_down(self, mock_conn, mock_test_conn):
         handler = mock.MagicMock()
-        h = host.Host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=handler)
+        h = self._create_host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=handler)
         mock_conn.side_effect = (mock.MagicMock(),
                                  fakelibvirt.libvirtError('test'))
         mock_test_conn.return_value = False
@@ -473,7 +510,8 @@ class HostTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
         # This emulates LibvirtDriver._handle_conn_event
         def conn_event_handler(*args, **kwargs):
             event.set()
-        h = host.Host("qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=conn_event_handler)
+        h = self._create_host(
+            "qemu:///system", conn_event_handler=conn_event_handler)
         h.initialize()
 
         h.get_connection()
@@ -2193,6 +2231,10 @@ class TestLibvirtSEV(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
         self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.LibvirtFixture())
         self.host = host.Host("qemu:///system")
+        self.addCleanup(self.host.cleanup)
+        self.host._delayed_executor = (
+            utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
+                delay=0.1, executor=utils._get_default_executor()))
 
 
 @ddt.ddt
@@ -2360,6 +2402,10 @@ class LibvirtTpoolProxyTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
 
         self.useFixture(nova_fixtures.LibvirtFixture())
         self.host = host.Host("qemu:///system")
+        self.host._delayed_executor = (
+            utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
+                delay=0.1, executor=utils._get_default_executor()))
+        self.addCleanup(self.host.cleanup)
 
         def _stub_xml(uuid):
             return ("<domain>"
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/virt/test_virt_drivers.py b/nova/tests/unit/virt/test_virt_drivers.py
index da0091470c..531b557d4b 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/virt/test_virt_drivers.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/virt/test_virt_drivers.py
@@ -92,6 +92,10 @@ class _FakeDriverBackendTestCase(object):
             'nova.virt.libvirt.host.Host._conn_event_thread',
             lambda *args: None))
 
+        self.useFixture(fixtures.MonkeyPatch(
+            'nova.virt.libvirt.host.Host._event_emit_delayed',
+            lambda *args: None))
+
         self.flags(rescue_image_id="2",
                    rescue_kernel_id="3",
                    rescue_ramdisk_id=None,
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
index 3c5de7aecd..59604b4b6b 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/driver.py
@@ -1489,6 +1489,11 @@ class LibvirtDriver(driver.ComputeDriver):
         # conversion which will return value of type unicode.
         return uri and str(uri)
 
+    def cleanup_host(self, host):
+        """Clean up anything that is necessary for the driver gracefully stop.
+        """
+        self._host.cleanup()
+
     def instance_exists(self, instance):
         """Efficient override of base instance_exists method."""
         try:
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/host.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/host.py
index 5266481a45..43961a64c8 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/host.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/host.py
@@ -346,9 +346,7 @@ class Host(object):
         #                STARTED events are sent. To prevent shutting
         #                down the domain during a reboot, delay the
         #                STOPPED lifecycle event some seconds.
-        self._delayed_executor = (
-            utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
-                delay=15, executor=utils._get_default_executor()))
+        self._delayed_executor = None
 
         self._initialized = False
         self._libvirt_proxy_classes = self._get_libvirt_proxy_classes(libvirt)
@@ -560,7 +558,7 @@ class Host(object):
             event.transition == virtevent.EVENT_LIFECYCLE_STOPPED):
             # Delay STOPPED event, as they may be followed by a STARTED
             # event in case the instance is rebooting
-            future = self._delayed_executor.submit_with_delay(
+            future = self._delayed_executor.submit_with_delay(  # type: ignore
                 self._event_emit, event)
             self._events_delayed[event.uuid] = future
             # add callback to cleanup self._events_delayed dict after
@@ -577,6 +575,9 @@ class Host(object):
     def _init_events(self):
         """Initializes the libvirt events subsystem.
         """
+        self._delayed_executor = (
+            utils.StaticallyDelayingCancellableTaskExecutorWrapper(
+                delay=15, executor=utils._get_default_executor()))
         self._event_handler.start()
 
         # This thread is just for async connection closed event handling.
@@ -705,6 +706,23 @@ class Host(object):
 
         self._initialized = True
 
+    def cleanup(self):
+        # TODO(gibi): We might want to stop the _event_handler here as well
+        # as the _conn_event_thread loop to have a fully graceful and clean
+        # shutdown
+
+        # If domain STOPPED events are delayed then the executor shutdown can
+        # take up to 15 seconds. Also as nova-compute is shutting down not
+        # having a power off synced to the DB does not matter much as during
+        # the next nova-compute startup the power states are synced anyhow. So
+        # lets cancel all the outstanding delayed events instead of waiting a
+        # lot.
+        for future in list(self._events_delayed.values()):
+            future.cancel()
+
+        if self._delayed_executor:
+            self._delayed_executor.shutdown(wait=True)
+
     def _version_check(self, lv_ver=None, hv_ver=None, hv_type=None,
                        op=operator.lt):
         """Check libvirt version, hypervisor version, and hypervisor type