diff --git a/.github/workflows/temp-branch-build-and-push.yaml b/.github/workflows/temp-branch-build-and-push.yaml
index fc150d0b2..77dd37eff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/temp-branch-build-and-push.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/temp-branch-build-and-push.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name: Branch - Build and push docker image
 on:
   push:
     branches:
-      - "add-graceful-shutdown-during-s3-sync"
+      - "POP-2045/investigate-nodes-not-syncing-up"
 
 concurrency:
   group: '${{ github.workflow }} @ ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.label || github.head_ref || github.ref }}'
diff --git a/iris-mpc/src/bin/server.rs b/iris-mpc/src/bin/server.rs
index 6b24058e9..566e1c2ba 100644
--- a/iris-mpc/src/bin/server.rs
+++ b/iris-mpc/src/bin/server.rs
@@ -969,6 +969,12 @@ async fn server_main(config: Config) -> eyre::Result<()> {
     tracing::info!("Heartbeat starting...");
     heartbeat_rx.await?;
     tracing::info!("Heartbeat on all nodes started.");
+    let download_shutdown_handler = Arc::clone(&shutdown_handler);
+
+    if download_shutdown_handler.is_shutting_down() {
+        tracing::warn!("Shutting down has been triggered");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
     background_tasks.check_tasks();
 
     let my_state = SyncState {
@@ -989,7 +995,6 @@ async fn server_main(config: Config) -> eyre::Result<()> {
     let load_chunks_parallelism = config.load_chunks_parallelism;
     let db_chunks_bucket_name = config.db_chunks_bucket_name.clone();
     let db_chunks_folder_name = config.db_chunks_folder_name.clone();
-    let download_shutdown_handler = Arc::clone(&shutdown_handler);
 
     let (tx, rx) = oneshot::channel();
     background_tasks.spawn_blocking(move || {
@@ -1034,6 +1039,11 @@ async fn server_main(config: Config) -> eyre::Result<()> {
             metrics::counter!("db.sync.rollback").increment(1);
         }
 
+        if download_shutdown_handler.is_shutting_down() {
+            tracing::warn!("Shutting down has been triggered");
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
         // --------------------------------------------------------------------------
         // ANCHOR: Load the database
         // --------------------------------------------------------------------------