diff --git a/.github/workflows/linux.yml b/.github/workflows/linux.yml
index 8f224390..ec2e144d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linux.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linux.yml
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        version: ['stable', 'nightly']
+        version: [stable, nightly]
 
     env:
-      # included in example of redis, not clear its purpose
-      CI: true
+      CI: '1'
+      CARGO_UNSTABLE_SPARSE_REGISTRY: 'true'
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index dd98c0cb..7eefdc48 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5686,8 +5686,10 @@ name = "shutdown-server"
 version = "1.0.0"
 dependencies = [
  "actix-web",
+ "actix-web-lab",
  "env_logger 0.9.0",
  "log",
+ "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "tokio 1.20.1",
 ]
 
diff --git a/shutdown-server/Cargo.toml b/shutdown-server/Cargo.toml
index 1e206e75..1aaab23c 100644
--- a/shutdown-server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/shutdown-server/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ description = "Send a request to the server to shut it down"
 
 [dependencies]
 actix-web = "4"
+actix-web-lab = "0.16"
 
 env_logger = "0.9"
 log = "0.4"
+parking_lot = "0.12"
 tokio = { version = "1.13.1", features = ["signal"] }
diff --git a/shutdown-server/README.md b/shutdown-server/README.md
index d77c5662..fd43b7ef 100644
--- a/shutdown-server/README.md
+++ b/shutdown-server/README.md
@@ -2,26 +2,27 @@
 
 Demonstrates how to shutdown the web server in a couple of ways:
 
-1. remotely, via http request
-   - Created in response to actix/actix-web#1315
+1. remotely, via HTTP request
 1. sending a SIGINT signal to the server (control-c)
-   - actix-server natively supports SIGINT
+   - Actix Web servers support shutdown signals by default. [See here for more info.](https://actix.rs/docs/server#graceful-shutdown)
 
 ## Usage
 
 ### Running The Server
 
-```sh
-cd shutdown-server
-cargo run --bin shutdown-server
-
-# Starting 8 workers
-# Starting "actix-web-service-127.0.0.1:8080" service on 127.0.0.1:8080
+```console
+$ cd shutdown-server
+$ cargo run --bin shutdown-server
+[INFO] starting HTTP server at http://localhost:8080
+[INFO] Starting 2 workers
+[INFO] Actix runtime found; starting in Actix runtime
 ```
 
 ### Available Routes
 
-- [GET /hello](http://localhost:8080/hello)
-  - Regular hello world route
-- [POST /stop](http://localhost:8080/stop)
-  - Calling this will shutdown the server and exit
+- [`GET /hello`](http://localhost:8080/hello)
+  - Test hello world
+- `POST /stop/true`
+  - Gracefully shuts down the server and exit
+- `POST /stop/false`
+  - Forces server shutdown and exits
diff --git a/shutdown-server/src/main.rs b/shutdown-server/src/main.rs
index f1233140..c0cfdf50 100644
--- a/shutdown-server/src/main.rs
+++ b/shutdown-server/src/main.rs
@@ -1,17 +1,15 @@
-use std::{sync::mpsc, thread};
-
-use actix_web::{get, middleware, post, web, App, HttpResponse, HttpServer};
+use actix_web::{dev::ServerHandle, get, middleware, post, web, App, HttpResponse, HttpServer};
+use actix_web_lab::extract::Path;
+use parking_lot::Mutex;
 
 #[get("/hello")]
 async fn hello() -> &'static str {
     "Hello world!"
 }
 
-#[post("/stop")]
-async fn stop(stopper: web::Data<mpsc::Sender<()>>) -> HttpResponse {
-    // make request that sends message through the Sender
-    stopper.send(()).unwrap();
-
+#[post("/stop/{graceful}")]
+async fn stop(Path(graceful): Path<bool>, stop_handle: web::Data<StopHandle>) -> HttpResponse {
+    let _ = stop_handle.stop(graceful);
     HttpResponse::NoContent().finish()
 }
 
@@ -19,33 +17,48 @@ async fn stop(stopper: web::Data<mpsc::Sender<()>>) -> HttpResponse {
 async fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
     env_logger::init_from_env(env_logger::Env::new().default_filter_or("info"));
 
-    // create a channel
-    let (tx, rx) = mpsc::channel::<()>();
+    // create the stop handle container
+    let stop_handle = web::Data::new(StopHandle::default());
 
     log::info!("starting HTTP server at http://localhost:8080");
 
     // start server as normal but don't .await after .run() yet
-    let server = HttpServer::new(move || {
-        // give the server a Sender in .data
-        App::new()
-            .app_data(web::Data::new(tx.clone()))
-            .wrap(middleware::Logger::default())
-            .service(hello)
-            .service(stop)
+    let srv = HttpServer::new({
+        let stop_handle = stop_handle.clone();
+
+        move || {
+            // give the server a Sender in .data
+            App::new()
+                .app_data(stop_handle.clone())
+                .service(hello)
+                .service(stop)
+                .wrap(middleware::Logger::default())
+        }
     })
     .bind(("127.0.0.1", 8080))?
+    .workers(2)
     .run();
 
-    // clone the server handle
-    let srv = server.handle();
-    thread::spawn(move || {
-        // wait for shutdown signal
-        rx.recv().unwrap();
-
-        // send stop server gracefully command
-        srv.stop(true)
-    });
+    // register the server handle with the stop handle
+    stop_handle.register(srv.handle());
 
     // run server until stopped (either by ctrl-c or stop endpoint)
-    server.await
+    srv.await
+}
+
+#[derive(Default)]
+struct StopHandle {
+    inner: Mutex<Option<ServerHandle>>,
+}
+
+impl StopHandle {
+    /// Sets the server handle to stop.
+    pub(crate) fn register(&self, handle: ServerHandle) {
+        *self.inner.lock() = Some(handle);
+    }
+
+    /// Sends stop signal through contained server handle.
+    pub(crate) fn stop(&self, graceful: bool) {
+        let _ = self.inner.lock().as_ref().unwrap().stop(graceful);
+    }
 }