diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 29275cda0..468e58849 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -585,6 +585,9 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
       ecode = EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
 
+  g_message ("Shutting down GNOME Shell");
+  _shell_global_notify_shutdown (shell_global_get ());
+
   meta_context_destroy (g_steal_pointer (&context));
 
   shell_profiler_shutdown ();
diff --git a/src/shell-global-private.h b/src/shell-global-private.h
index 9969691cb..a0834af8e 100644
--- a/src/shell-global-private.h
+++ b/src/shell-global-private.h
@@ -20,4 +20,6 @@ gboolean _shell_global_check_xdnd_event (ShellGlobal  *global,
 
 void _shell_global_locate_pointer (ShellGlobal  *global);
 
+void _shell_global_notify_shutdown (ShellGlobal *global);
+
 #endif /* __SHELL_GLOBAL_PRIVATE_H__ */
diff --git a/src/shell-global.c b/src/shell-global.c
index ab8000e23..365e387f0 100644
--- a/src/shell-global.c
+++ b/src/shell-global.c
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ enum
 {
  NOTIFY_ERROR,
  LOCATE_POINTER,
+ SHUTDOWN,
  LAST_SIGNAL
 };
 
@@ -507,6 +508,13 @@ shell_global_class_init (ShellGlobalClass *klass)
                     0,
                     NULL, NULL, NULL,
                     G_TYPE_NONE, 0);
+  shell_global_signals[SHUTDOWN] =
+      g_signal_new ("shutdown",
+                    G_TYPE_FROM_CLASS (klass),
+                    G_SIGNAL_RUN_LAST,
+                    0,
+                    NULL, NULL, NULL,
+                    G_TYPE_NONE, 0);
 
   props[PROP_SESSION_MODE] =
     g_param_spec_string ("session-mode",
@@ -1872,3 +1880,9 @@ _shell_global_locate_pointer (ShellGlobal *global)
 {
   g_signal_emit (global, shell_global_signals[LOCATE_POINTER], 0);
 }
+
+void
+_shell_global_notify_shutdown (ShellGlobal *global)
+{
+  g_signal_emit (global, shell_global_signals[SHUTDOWN], 0);
+}