diff --git a/fluent/asynchandler.py b/fluent/asynchandler.py
index 397608e..c2744bf 100644
--- a/fluent/asynchandler.py
+++ b/fluent/asynchandler.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from fluent import asyncsender, handler
+from fluent import asyncsender, handler, sender
 
 
 class FluentHandler(handler.FluentHandler):
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ class FluentHandler(handler.FluentHandler):
     Asynchronous Logging Handler for fluent.
     """
 
+    def getSenderInstance(self, **kwargs):
+        try:
+            return super().getSenderInstance(**kwargs)
+        except RuntimeError:
+            return sender.FluentSender(**kwargs)
+
     def getSenderClass(self):
         return asyncsender.FluentSender
 
diff --git a/tests/test_asynchandler.py b/tests/test_asynchandler.py
index 7bbf108..3160017 100644
--- a/tests/test_asynchandler.py
+++ b/tests/test_asynchandler.py
@@ -259,6 +259,14 @@ def test_exception_message(self):
         self.assertTrue('tests/test_asynchandler.py", line' in message)
         self.assertTrue("Exception: sample exception" in message)
 
+    @mock.patch('threading.Thread')
+    def test_close_during_interpreter_shutdown(self, thread_mock):
+        thread_mock.return_value.start.side_effect = RuntimeError("can't create new thread at interpreter shutdown")
+
+        handler = self.get_handler_class()("app.follow", port=self._port)
+        handler.close()
+        thread_mock.return_value.start.assert_called_once()
+
 
 class TestHandlerWithCircularQueue(unittest.TestCase):
     Q_SIZE = 3