diff --git a/linux/systemd/qubes-core.service b/linux/systemd/qubes-core.service
index ae526a82..1b9ee8a7 100644
--- a/linux/systemd/qubes-core.service
+++ b/linux/systemd/qubes-core.service
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ StandardOutput=syslog
 RemainAfterExit=yes
 ExecStart=/usr/lib/qubes/startup-misc.sh
 ExecStop=/usr/bin/qvm-shutdown -q --all --wait
+# QubesDB daemons stop after 60s timeout in worst case; speed it up, since no
+# VMs are running now
+ExecStop=-/usr/bin/killall qubesdb-daemon
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target