diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index e22b05b96..90d8a49d2 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ See also [LTS releases](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/lts-releases/).
 * BUGFIX: [vmselect](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/): make vmselect resilient to absence of cache folder. If cache folder was mistakenly deleted by user or OS, vmselect will try re-creating it first. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5985).
 * BUGFIX: [Single-node VictoriaMetrics](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/) and `vmselect` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/cluster-victoriametrics/): limit duration of requests to /api/v1/labels, /api/v1/label/.../values or /api/v1/series with `-search.maxLabelsAPIDuration` duration. Before, `-search.maxExportDuration` value was used by mistake. Thanks to @kbweave for the [pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/5992).
 * BUGFIX: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmagent.html): fixed response body and headers for AWS Firehose HTTP Destination.
+* BUGFIX: properly wait for force merge to be completed during the shutdown. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/5944) for the details.
 
 ## [v1.99.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.99.0)
 
diff --git a/lib/storage/partition.go b/lib/storage/partition.go
index e1f0c9c34..d098081e4 100644
--- a/lib/storage/partition.go
+++ b/lib/storage/partition.go
@@ -1182,7 +1182,7 @@ func (pt *partition) mergePartsToFiles(pws []*partWrapper, stopCh <-chan struct{
 }
 
 // ForceMergeAllParts runs merge for all the parts in pt.
-func (pt *partition) ForceMergeAllParts() error {
+func (pt *partition) ForceMergeAllParts(stop chan struct{}) error {
 	pws := pt.getAllPartsForMerge()
 	if len(pws) == 0 {
 		// Nothing to merge.
@@ -1202,7 +1202,7 @@ func (pt *partition) ForceMergeAllParts() error {
 	// If len(pws) == 1, then the merge must run anyway.
 	// This allows applying the configured retention, removing the deleted series
 	// and performing de-duplication if needed.
-	if err := pt.mergePartsToFiles(pws, pt.stopCh, bigPartsConcurrencyCh); err != nil {
+	if err := pt.mergePartsToFiles(pws, stop, bigPartsConcurrencyCh); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot force merge %d parts from partition %q: %w", len(pws), pt.name, err)
 	}
 
@@ -1316,7 +1316,7 @@ func (pt *partition) runFinalDedup() error {
 	t := time.Now()
 	logger.Infof("starting final dedup for partition %s using requiredDedupInterval=%d ms, since the partition has smaller actualDedupInterval=%d ms",
 		pt.bigPartsPath, requiredDedupInterval, actualDedupInterval)
-	if err := pt.ForceMergeAllParts(); err != nil {
+	if err := pt.ForceMergeAllParts(pt.stopCh); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot perform final dedup for partition %s: %w", pt.bigPartsPath, err)
 	}
 	logger.Infof("final dedup for partition %s has been finished in %.3f seconds", pt.bigPartsPath, time.Since(t).Seconds())
diff --git a/lib/storage/table.go b/lib/storage/table.go
index 2fa5979b2..7f1234df4 100644
--- a/lib/storage/table.go
+++ b/lib/storage/table.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ type table struct {
 
 	retentionWatcherWG  sync.WaitGroup
 	finalDedupWatcherWG sync.WaitGroup
+	forceMergesWG       sync.WaitGroup
 }
 
 // partitionWrapper provides refcounting mechanism for the partition.
@@ -168,6 +169,7 @@ func (tb *table) MustClose() {
 	close(tb.stop)
 	tb.retentionWatcherWG.Wait()
 	tb.finalDedupWatcherWG.Wait()
+	tb.forceMergesWG.Wait()
 
 	tb.ptwsLock.Lock()
 	ptws := tb.ptws
@@ -242,13 +244,15 @@ func (tb *table) UpdateMetrics(m *TableMetrics) {
 func (tb *table) ForceMergePartitions(partitionNamePrefix string) error {
 	ptws := tb.GetPartitions(nil)
 	defer tb.PutPartitions(ptws)
+	tb.forceMergesWG.Add(1)
+	defer tb.forceMergesWG.Done()
 	for _, ptw := range ptws {
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(ptw.pt.name, partitionNamePrefix) {
 			continue
 		}
 		logger.Infof("starting forced merge for partition %q", ptw.pt.name)
 		startTime := time.Now()
-		if err := ptw.pt.ForceMergeAllParts(); err != nil {
+		if err := ptw.pt.ForceMergeAllParts(tb.stop); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot complete forced merge for partition %q: %w", ptw.pt.name, err)
 		}
 		logger.Infof("forced merge for partition %q has been finished in %.3f seconds", ptw.pt.name, time.Since(startTime).Seconds())