diff --git a/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft_storage_exporter_s3.erl b/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft_storage_exporter_s3.erl
index 0d6086259..4db2255f6 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft_storage_exporter_s3.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_ft/src/emqx_ft_storage_exporter_s3.erl
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ complete(#{pid := Pid} = _ExportSt, _Checksum) ->
 -spec discard(export_st()) ->
     ok.
 discard(#{pid := Pid} = _ExportSt) ->
-    emqx_s3_uploader:abort(Pid).
+    % NOTE: will abort upload asynchronously if needed
+    emqx_s3_uploader:shutdown(Pid).
 
 -spec list(options(), query()) ->
     {ok, page(exportinfo())} | {error, term()}.
diff --git a/apps/emqx_s3/src/emqx_s3_uploader.erl b/apps/emqx_s3/src/emqx_s3_uploader.erl
index 595612f62..aa547c7cc 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_s3/src/emqx_s3_uploader.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_s3/src/emqx_s3_uploader.erl
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@
     complete/2,
 
     abort/1,
-    abort/2
+    abort/2,
+
+    shutdown/1
 ]).
 
 -export([
@@ -87,6 +89,11 @@ abort(Pid) ->
 abort(Pid, Timeout) ->
     gen_statem:call(Pid, abort, Timeout).
 
+-spec shutdown(pid()) -> ok.
+shutdown(Pid) ->
+    _ = erlang:exit(Pid, shutdown),
+    ok.
+
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
 %% gen_statem callbacks
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------