diff --git a/geode-log4j/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppenderShutdownIntegrationTest.java b/geode-log4j/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppenderShutdownIntegrationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8453713f6272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/geode-log4j/src/integrationTest/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppenderShutdownIntegrationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license
+ * agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding
+ * copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a
+ * copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License
+ * is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
+ * or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.geode.logging.log4j.internal.impl;
+
+import static org.apache.geode.test.util.ResourceUtils.createFileFromResource;
+import static org.apache.geode.test.util.ResourceUtils.getResource;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.net.URL;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.LogEvent;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.junit.LoggerContextRule;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.ClassRule;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.experimental.categories.Category;
+import org.junit.rules.TemporaryFolder;
+import org.junit.rules.TestName;
+
+import org.apache.geode.logging.internal.log4j.api.LogService;
+import org.apache.geode.logging.internal.spi.LogConfig;
+import org.apache.geode.logging.internal.spi.LogConfigSupplier;
+import org.apache.geode.logging.internal.spi.SessionContext;
+import org.apache.geode.test.junit.categories.LoggingTest;
+
+/**
+ * Integration tests for {@link LogWriterAppender}.
+ */
+@Category(LoggingTest.class)
+public class LogWriterAppenderShutdownIntegrationTest {
+
+  private static final String CONFIG_FILE_NAME = "LogWriterAppenderIntegrationTest_log4j2.xml";
+  private static final String APPENDER_NAME = "LOGWRITER";
+
+  private static String configFilePath;
+
+  private File logFile;
+
+  private String logMessage;
+
+  private Logger logger;
+
+  private LogWriterAppender logWriterAppender;
+
+  private SessionContext sessionContext;
+
+  @ClassRule
+  public static TemporaryFolder temporaryFolder = new TemporaryFolder();
+
+  @Rule
+  public LoggerContextRule loggerContextRule = new LoggerContextRule(configFilePath);
+
+  @Rule
+  public TestName testName = new TestName();
+
+  @BeforeClass
+  public static void setUpLogConfigFile() {
+    URL resource = getResource(CONFIG_FILE_NAME);
+    configFilePath = createFileFromResource(resource, temporaryFolder.getRoot(), CONFIG_FILE_NAME)
+        .getAbsolutePath();
+  }
+
+  @Before
+  public void setUp() {
+    String name = testName.getMethodName();
+    logFile = new File(temporaryFolder.getRoot(), name + ".log");
+
+    LogConfig config = mock(LogConfig.class);
+    when(config.getName()).thenReturn(name);
+    when(config.getLogFile()).thenReturn(logFile);
+
+    LogConfigSupplier logConfigSupplier = mock(LogConfigSupplier.class);
+    when(logConfigSupplier.getLogConfig()).thenReturn(config);
+
+    sessionContext = mock(SessionContext.class);
+    when(sessionContext.getLogConfigSupplier()).thenReturn(logConfigSupplier);
+
+    logger = LogService.getLogger();
+    logMessage = "Logging in " + testName.getMethodName();
+
+    logWriterAppender =
+        loggerContextRule.getAppender(APPENDER_NAME, LogWriterAppender.class);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void stopActiveSession() {
+    logWriterAppender.clearLogEvents();
+
+    logWriterAppender.createSession(sessionContext);
+    logWriterAppender.startSession();
+    assertThat(logWriterAppender.getLogWriter()).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(logWriterAppender.isStarted()).isTrue();
+
+    logger.info(logMessage);
+
+    assertThat(logWriterAppender.getLogEvents()).hasSize(1);
+    LogEvent event = logWriterAppender.getLogEvents().get(0);
+    assertThat(event.getLoggerName()).isEqualTo(getClass().getName());
+    assertThat(event.getLevel()).isEqualTo(Level.INFO);
+    assertThat(event.getMessage().getFormattedMessage()).isEqualTo(logMessage);
+
+    logWriterAppender.stopSession();
+    assertThat(logWriterAppender.getLogWriter()).isNull();
+    assertThat(logWriterAppender.isPaused()).isTrue();
+    logWriterAppender.clearLogEvents();
+
+    logger.info(logMessage);
+
+    assertThat(logWriterAppender.getLogEvents()).hasSize(0);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/geode-log4j/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppender.java b/geode-log4j/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppender.java
index bda583d02724..b9dbbd731d8e 100644
--- a/geode-log4j/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppender.java
+++ b/geode-log4j/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/logging/log4j/internal/impl/LogWriterAppender.java
@@ -303,9 +303,17 @@ public synchronized void startSession() {
   @Override
   public synchronized void stopSession() {
     LOGGER.info("Stopping session in {}.", this);
-    logWriter.shuttingDown();
-    pause();
-    logWriter.closingLogFile();
+    if (logWriter == null) {
+      pause();
+      return;
+    }
+    try {
+      logWriter.shuttingDown();
+      pause();
+      logWriter.closingLogFile();
+    } finally {
+      logWriter = null;
+    }
   }
 
   @Override