diff --git a/lib/app/lower.js b/lib/app/lower.js
index 55d428177..a2bc2b286 100644
--- a/lib/app/lower.js
+++ b/lib/app/lower.js
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ module.exports = function lower(options, cb) {
         // This should never happen because `err` is never passed in any of the async
         // functions above.  Still, just to be safe, we set up an error log.
         sails.log.error('While lowering Sails app: received unexpected error:', err.stack);
+        return cb(err);
       }
 
       // If `sails._setNodeEnvAutomatically` is set, then we should revert it to what it was
@@ -193,6 +194,9 @@ module.exports = function lower(options, cb) {
       if (sails._setNodeEnvAutomatically) {
         process.env['NODE_ENV'] = sails._originalNodeEnv;
       }
+
+      return cb();
+
     });//</async.series>
 
   });//</beforeShutdown()>