diff --git a/cmd/docker/docker.go b/cmd/docker/docker.go
index 3cf0ba966f..65f7499d75 100644
--- a/cmd/docker/docker.go
+++ b/cmd/docker/docker.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"os/signal"
@@ -325,6 +326,25 @@ func tryPluginRun(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, cmd *cobra.Command
 	return nil
 }
 
+// registerForceExitGoroutine registers a goroutine that will force exit the
+// process after 3 SIGTERM/SIGINT signals.
+func registerForceExitGoroutine(ctx context.Context, w io.Writer) {
+	// setup a signal handler to force exit after 3 SIGTERM/SIGINT
+	go func() {
+		<-ctx.Done()
+		sig := make(chan os.Signal, 2)
+		signal.Notify(sig, platformsignals.TerminationSignals...)
+		count := 0
+		for range sig {
+			count++
+			if count >= 2 {
+				_, _ = fmt.Fprint(w, "\ngot 3 SIGTERM/SIGINTs, forcefully exiting\n")
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+}
+
 //nolint:gocyclo
 func runDocker(ctx context.Context, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) error {
 	tcmd := newDockerCommand(dockerCli)
@@ -384,6 +404,10 @@ func runDocker(ctx context.Context, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// This is a fallback for the case where the command does not exit
+	// based on context cancellation.
+	registerForceExitGoroutine(ctx, dockerCli.Err())
+
 	// We've parsed global args already, so reset args to those
 	// which remain.
 	cmd.SetArgs(args)