diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/coinjoin/utils/CoinJoinManager.java b/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/coinjoin/utils/CoinJoinManager.java
index 443606543..0216ccb0f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/coinjoin/utils/CoinJoinManager.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/bitcoinj/coinjoin/utils/CoinJoinManager.java
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@
 public class CoinJoinManager {
 
     private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(CoinJoinManager.class);
+    public static final String MESSAGE_PROCESSOR = "CoinJoin-MessageProcessor";
     private final ArrayList<WalletEx> wallets = Lists.newArrayList();
     private final Context context;
     public final HashMap<String, CoinJoinClientManager> coinJoinClientManagers;
@@ -98,8 +99,7 @@ public class CoinJoinManager {
     private RequestKeyParameter requestKeyParameter;
     private RequestDecryptedKey requestDecryptedKey;
     private final ScheduledExecutorService scheduledExecutorService;
-    private final ExecutorService messageProcessingExecutor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(5,
-            new ContextPropagatingThreadFactory("CoinJoin-MessageProcessor"));
+    private volatile ExecutorService messageProcessingExecutor = null;
     protected final ReentrantLock lock = Threading.lock("coinjoin-manager");
 
     private boolean finishCurrentSessions = false;
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ public void start() {
         Context.propagate(context);
         schedule = scheduledExecutorService.scheduleWithFixedDelay(
                 maintenanceRunnable, 1, 1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        messageProcessingExecutor = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(5,
+                new ContextPropagatingThreadFactory(MESSAGE_PROCESSOR));
     }
 
     public void stop() {
@@ -214,17 +216,20 @@ public void stop() {
             finishCurrentSessions = false;
 
             // Shutdown the message processing executor
-            messageProcessingExecutor.shutdown();
-            try {
-                if (!messageProcessingExecutor.awaitTermination(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
-                    log.warn("CoinJoin message processing executor did not terminate in time, forcing shutdown");
+            if (messageProcessingExecutor != null) {
+                messageProcessingExecutor.shutdown();
+                try {
+                    if (!messageProcessingExecutor.awaitTermination(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
+                        log.warn("CoinJoin message processing executor did not terminate in time, forcing shutdown");
+                        messageProcessingExecutor.shutdownNow();
+                    }
+                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                    log.warn("Interrupted while waiting for message processing executor to terminate", e);
                     messageProcessingExecutor.shutdownNow();
+                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
                 }
-            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-                log.warn("Interrupted while waiting for message processing executor to terminate", e);
-                messageProcessingExecutor.shutdownNow();
-                Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
             }
+            messageProcessingExecutor = null;
         } finally {
             lock.unlock();
         }
@@ -234,6 +239,11 @@ public boolean isRunning() {
         return schedule != null && !schedule.isCancelled();
     }
 
+    private boolean isMessageProcessorRunning() {
+        return messageProcessingExecutor != null && !messageProcessingExecutor.isShutdown() &&
+                !messageProcessingExecutor.isTerminated();
+    }
+
     public void initMasternodeGroup(AbstractBlockChain blockChain) {
         this.blockChain = blockChain;
         masternodeGroup = new MasternodeGroup(context, blockChain, masternodeListManager);
@@ -282,8 +292,18 @@ public void close() {
             masternodeGroup.removePreMessageReceivedEventListener(preMessageReceivedEventListener);
         }
         // Ensure executor is shut down
-        if (!messageProcessingExecutor.isShutdown()) {
-            messageProcessingExecutor.shutdown();
+        ExecutorService execToStop = null;
+        lock.lock();
+        try {
+            if (messageProcessingExecutor != null && !messageProcessingExecutor.isShutdown()) {
+                execToStop = messageProcessingExecutor;
+                messageProcessingExecutor = null;
+            }
+        } finally {
+            lock.unlock();
+        }
+        if (execToStop != null) {
+            execToStop.shutdown();
         }
     }
 
@@ -508,12 +528,13 @@ public void processTransaction(Transaction tx) {
     public final PreMessageReceivedEventListener preMessageReceivedEventListener = (peer, m) -> {
         if (m instanceof CoinJoinQueue) {
             // Offload DSQueue message processing to thread pool to avoid blocking network I/O thread
-            try {
-                messageProcessingExecutor.execute(() -> {
-                    processMessage(peer, m);
-                });
-            } catch (RejectedExecutionException e) {
-                // Executor was shutdown - ignore, we're shutting down
+            ExecutorService exec = messageProcessingExecutor;
+            if (exec != null) {
+                try {
+                    exec.execute(() -> processMessage(peer, m));
+                } catch (RejectedExecutionException e) {
+                    // swallow because this is being stopped
+                }
             }
             // Return null as dsq messages are only processed above
             return null;