diff --git a/src/dorkbox/network/aeron/AeronDriver.kt b/src/dorkbox/network/aeron/AeronDriver.kt
index e4a93f96..711de4cc 100644
--- a/src/dorkbox/network/aeron/AeronDriver.kt
+++ b/src/dorkbox/network/aeron/AeronDriver.kt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import io.aeron.Publication
 import io.aeron.Subscription
 import io.aeron.driver.MediaDriver
 import io.aeron.exceptions.DriverTimeoutException
+import kotlinx.atomicfu.atomic
 import kotlinx.coroutines.delay
 import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
 import mu.KLogger
@@ -244,6 +245,9 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
         }
     }
 
+    private val closeRequested = atomic(false)
+
+    @Volatile
     private var aeron: Aeron? = null
 
     @Volatile
@@ -253,6 +257,9 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
     private val threadFactory = NamedThreadFactory("Thread", ThreadGroup("${type.simpleName}-AeronDriver"), true)
     private val mediaDriverContext = config.context!!
 
+    // did WE start the media driver, or did SOMEONE ELSE start it?
+    private val mediaDriverAlreadyStarted: Boolean
+
     init {
         mediaDriverContext
             .conductorThreadFactory(threadFactory)
@@ -260,6 +267,8 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
             .senderThreadFactory(threadFactory)
             .sharedNetworkThreadFactory(threadFactory)
             .sharedThreadFactory(threadFactory)
+
+        mediaDriverAlreadyStarted = isRunning(mediaDriverContext)
     }
 
     private fun setupAeron(): Aeron.Context {
@@ -283,8 +292,14 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
     }
 
 
-
+    /**
+     * @return true if the media driver was started, false if it was not started
+     */
     private fun startDriver(): Boolean {
+        if (closeRequested.value) {
+            return false
+        }
+
         if (mediaDriver == null) {
             // only start if we didn't already start... There will be several checks.
 
@@ -314,6 +329,10 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
     }
 
     private fun startAeron(didStartDriver: Boolean) {
+        if (closeRequested.value) {
+            return
+        }
+
         // the media driver MIGHT already be started in a different process! We still ALWAYS want to connect to
         // aeron (which connects to the other media driver process), especially if we haven't already connected to
         // it (or if there was an error connecting because a different media driver was shutting down)
@@ -332,10 +351,24 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
      * @throws Exception if there is a problem starting the media driver
      */
     fun start() {
+        // we want to be able to "restart" aeron, as necessary, after a [close] method call
+        closeRequested.lazySet(false)
+        startOrRestart()
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * if we did NOT close, then will start the media driver + aeron,
+     */
+    private fun startOrRestart() {
+        if (closeRequested.value) {
+            return
+        }
+
         val didStartDriver = startDriver()
         startAeron(didStartDriver)
     }
 
+
     /**
      * @return the aeron media driver log file for a specific publication. This should be removed when a publication is closed (but is not always!)
      */
@@ -374,9 +407,9 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
 
                 // try to start/restart aeron
                 try {
-                    start()
+                    startOrRestart()
                 } catch (e2: Exception) {
-                    e2.printStackTrace()
+                    // ignored
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -399,7 +432,7 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
             } catch (e: Exception) {
                 // NOTE: this error will be logged in the `aeronDriverContext` logger
                 exception = e
-                logger.warn { "Unable to add a publication to Aeron. Retrying $count more times..." }
+                logger.warn { "Unable to add a sublication to Aeron. Retrying $count more times..." }
 
                 if (e is DriverTimeoutException) {
                     delay(mediaDriverContext.driverTimeoutMs())
@@ -416,9 +449,9 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
 
                 // try to start/restart aeron
                 try {
-                    start()
+                    startOrRestart()
                 } catch (e2: Exception) {
-                    e2.printStackTrace()
+                   // ignored
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -443,18 +476,28 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
      *   same directory, deleting the directory will cause any other aeron connection to fail! (which makes sense).
      */
     suspend fun close() {
+        closeRequested.lazySet(true)
+
         try {
             aeron?.close()
         } catch (e: Exception) {
             logger.error("Error stopping aeron.", e)
         }
 
+        aeron = null
+
         val mediaDriver = mediaDriver
         if (mediaDriver == null) {
-            logger.debug { "No driver started for this instance. Not Stopping." }
+            logger.debug("No driver started for this instance. Not Stopping.")
             return
         }
 
+        if (!mediaDriverAlreadyStarted) {
+            logger.debug("We did not start the media driver, so we are not stopping it.")
+            return
+        }
+
+
         logger.debug("Stopping driver at '${mediaDriverContext.aeronDirectory()}'...")
 
         if (!isRunning(mediaDriverContext)) {
@@ -470,6 +513,8 @@ class AeronDriver(val config: Configuration,
             // AERON_PUBLICATION_LINGER_TIMEOUT, 5s by default (this can also be set as a URI param)
             delay(AERON_PUBLICATION_LINGER_TIMEOUT)
 
+            this@AeronDriver.mediaDriver = null
+
             // wait for the media driver to actually stop
             var count = 10
             while (count-- >= 0 && isRunning(mediaDriverContext)) {