diff --git a/src/go/rdctl/cmd/internalProcessWaitKill.go b/src/go/rdctl/cmd/internalProcessWaitKill.go
index 92cd161568f..b581d21086f 100644
--- a/src/go/rdctl/cmd/internalProcessWaitKill.go
+++ b/src/go/rdctl/cmd/internalProcessWaitKill.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ exit, and once it does, terminates all processes within the same process group.`
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get process ID: %w", err)
 		}
-		return process.WaitForProcessAndKillGroup(pid)
+		return process.KillProcessGroup(pid, true)
 	},
 }
 
diff --git a/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_unix.go b/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_unix.go
index 3266269ac4a..d86d6255822 100644
--- a/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_unix.go
+++ b/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_unix.go
@@ -89,10 +89,9 @@ func FindPidOfProcess(executable string) (int, error) {
 	return mainPid, nil
 }
 
-// Wait for the process identified by the given pid to exit, then kill all
-// processes in the same process group.  This blocks until the given process
-// exits.  If the given pid is 0, this is a no-op.
-func WaitForProcessAndKillGroup(pid int) error {
+// Kill the process group the given process belongs to.  If wait is set, block
+// until the target process exits first before doing so.
+func KillProcessGroup(pid int, wait bool) error {
 	if pid == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -100,8 +99,10 @@ func WaitForProcessAndKillGroup(pid int) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get process group id for %d: %w", pid, err)
 	}
-	if err = WaitForProcess(pid); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for process: %w", err)
+	if wait {
+		if err = WaitForProcess(pid); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for process: %w", err)
+		}
 	}
 	err = unix.Kill(-pgid, unix.SIGTERM)
 	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, unix.ESRCH) {
diff --git a/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_windows.go b/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_windows.go
index d0edd6fa8b6..16475400060 100644
--- a/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_windows.go
+++ b/src/go/rdctl/pkg/process/process_windows.go
@@ -412,11 +412,10 @@ func FindPidOfProcess(executable string) (int, error) {
 	return mainPid, nil
 }
 
-// Wait for the process identified by the given pid to exit, then kill all
-// processes in the same process group.  This blocks until the given process
-// exits.
-func WaitForProcessAndKillGroup(pid int) error {
-	return errors.New("WaitForProcessAndKillGroup is not implemented on Windows")
+// Kill the process group the given process belongs to.  If wait is set, block
+// until the target process exits first before doing so.
+func KillProcessGroup(pid int, wait bool) error {
+	return errors.New("KillProcessGroup is not implemented on Windows")
 }
 
 // TerminateProcessInDirectory terminates all processes where the executable
diff --git a/src/go/rdctl/pkg/shutdown/shutdown.go b/src/go/rdctl/pkg/shutdown/shutdown.go
index 558fbe062ba..9c048e9255e 100644
--- a/src/go/rdctl/pkg/shutdown/shutdown.go
+++ b/src/go/rdctl/pkg/shutdown/shutdown.go
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ func terminateRancherDesktopFunc(appDir string) func(context.Context) error {
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			return process.WaitForProcessAndKillGroup(pid)
+			return process.KillProcessGroup(pid, false)
 		})())
 
 		errors = multierror.Append(errors, process.TerminateProcessInDirectory(appDir, true))