diff --git a/shotover/src/transforms/kafka/sink_cluster/mod.rs b/shotover/src/transforms/kafka/sink_cluster/mod.rs
index aab214dfd..fe00dbfb7 100644
--- a/shotover/src/transforms/kafka/sink_cluster/mod.rs
+++ b/shotover/src/transforms/kafka/sink_cluster/mod.rs
@@ -979,6 +979,22 @@ impl KafkaSinkCluster {
                 })) => {
                     self.route_find_coordinator(request);
                 }
+                Some(Frame::Kafka(KafkaFrame::Request {
+                    body: RequestBody::ControlledShutdown(_),
+                    ..
+                })) => {
+                    // This request type specifies a broker that should shutdown.
+                    // Since the broker ID's known to the client represent shotover nodes,
+                    // the only reasonable interpretation of this request would be for the shotover with that broker id to shutdown.
+                    // But its not appropriate for shotover to shutdown:
+                    // * It cant hand off topics to other nodes like kafka does as part of its controlled shutdown process.
+                    // * It doesnt have any ACL's, any user could send this request regardless of authorization.
+                    //
+                    // So we abort the connection and log an error to signal to the client that the request failed.
+                    // It might be better to instead construct a response containing an error code,
+                    // but its not worth the complexity for such a rare request type.
+                    return Err(anyhow!("Client sent ControlledShutdown request. Shotover cannot handle this request as it is not appropriate for shotover to shutdown. The connection to the client has been closed."));
+                }
 
                 // route to controller broker
                 Some(Frame::Kafka(KafkaFrame::Request {