diff --git a/src/v/cluster/health_monitor_backend.cc b/src/v/cluster/health_monitor_backend.cc
index 0ccdd7e654a8..2111c55bdbb8 100644
--- a/src/v/cluster/health_monitor_backend.cc
+++ b/src/v/cluster/health_monitor_backend.cc
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ ss::future<> health_monitor_backend::stop() {
       _leadership_notification_handle);
 
     auto f = _gate.close();
+    _refresh_mutex.broken();
     abort_current_refresh();
     _tick_timer.cancel();
 
@@ -479,6 +480,9 @@ health_monitor_backend::maybe_refresh_cluster_health(
                   err.message());
                 co_return err;
             }
+        } catch (const ss::broken_semaphore&) {
+            // Refresh was waiting on _refresh_mutex during shutdown
+            co_return errc::shutting_down;
         } catch (const ss::timed_out_error&) {
             vlog(
               clusterlog.info,