--- a/libinterp/corefcn/interpreter.cc	Fri May 27 07:55:01 2022 -0700
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/interpreter.cc	Sat Apr 23 15:20:18 2022 +0200
@@ -654,6 +654,9 @@
 
   interpreter::~interpreter (void)
   {
+    if (! m_app_context)
+      shutdown ();
+
     delete m_gh_manager;
   }
 
@@ -906,15 +909,17 @@
               }
             else
               exit_status = main_loop ();
+
+            shutdown ();
           }
       }
     catch (const exit_exception& xe)
       {
         exit_status = xe.exit_status ();
+
+        shutdown ();
       }
 
-    shutdown ();
-
     return exit_status;
   }