diff --git a/cmd/icingadb/main.go b/cmd/icingadb/main.go
index daf7461b..b8503b92 100644
--- a/cmd/icingadb/main.go
+++ b/cmd/icingadb/main.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"os/signal"
 	"sync"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -67,9 +68,17 @@ func run() int {
 
 	heartbeat := icingaredis.NewHeartbeat(ctx, rc, logger)
 	ha := icingadb.NewHA(ctx, db, heartbeat, logger)
+
 	// Closing ha on exit ensures that this instance retracts its heartbeat
 	// from the database so that another instance can take over immediately.
-	defer ha.Close()
+	defer func() {
+		// Give up after 3s, not 5m (default) not to hang for 5m if DB is down.
+		ctx, cancelCtx := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 3*time.Second)
+
+		ha.Close(ctx)
+		cancelCtx()
+	}()
+
 	s := icingadb.NewSync(db, rc, logger)
 	hs := history.NewSync(db, rc, logger)
 	rt := icingadb.NewRuntimeUpdates(db, rc, logger)
diff --git a/pkg/icingadb/ha.go b/pkg/icingadb/ha.go
index c3fb8a84..44cd87b5 100644
--- a/pkg/icingadb/ha.go
+++ b/pkg/icingadb/ha.go
@@ -61,14 +61,14 @@ func NewHA(ctx context.Context, db *DB, heartbeat *icingaredis.Heartbeat, logger
 	return ha
 }
 
-// Close implements the io.Closer interface.
-func (h *HA) Close() error {
+// Close shuts h down.
+func (h *HA) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// Cancel ctx.
 	h.cancelCtx()
 	// Wait until the controller loop ended.
 	<-h.Done()
 	// Remove our instance from the database.
-	h.removeInstance()
+	h.removeInstance(ctx)
 	// And return an error, if any.
 	return h.Err()
 }
@@ -259,11 +259,11 @@ func (h *HA) realize(s *icingaredisv1.IcingaStatus, t *types.UnixMilli, shouldLo
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (h *HA) removeInstance() {
+func (h *HA) removeInstance(ctx context.Context) {
 	h.logger.Debugw("Removing our row from icingadb_instance", zap.String("instance_id", hex.EncodeToString(h.instanceId)))
-	// Intentionally not using a context here as this is a cleanup task and h.ctx is already cancelled.
+	// Intentionally not using h.ctx here as it's already cancelled.
 	query := "DELETE FROM icingadb_instance WHERE id = ?"
-	_, err := h.db.Exec(query, h.instanceId)
+	_, err := h.db.ExecContext(ctx, query, h.instanceId)
 	if err != nil {
 		h.logger.Warnw("Could not remove instance from database", zap.Error(err), zap.String("query", query))
 	}