diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Program.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Program.cs
index a5dd3e30..63da889c 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Program.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host/Program.cs
@@ -151,6 +151,12 @@ Log.Logger = ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host.LoggerConfigurationFactory
     .Build(configuration, nodeRole, siteId, nodeHostname)
     .CreateLogger();
 
+// The host's ApplicationStopping token, captured once the host is built. A normal Windows service
+// stop (or SIGTERM) cancels it BEFORE RunAsync unwinds, and WindowsServiceLifetime.StopAsync can
+// then surface an OperationCanceledException out of RunAsync after shutdown has already finished.
+// The catch below uses it to tell that routine stop from a genuine fatal exit (ScadaBridge#76).
+var hostStopping = CancellationToken.None;
+
 try
 {
     Log.Information("Starting ScadaBridge host as {Role} on {Hostname}", nodeRole, nodeHostname);
@@ -639,6 +645,7 @@ try
             builder.Configuration.GetSection(ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.DeploymentManager.ServiceCollectionExtensions.OptionsSection));
 
         var app = builder.Build();
+        hostStopping = app.Lifetime.ApplicationStopping;
 
         // Apply or validate database migrations (skip when running in test harness)
         if (!string.Equals(configuration["ScadaBridge:Database:SkipMigrations"], "true", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
@@ -832,6 +839,7 @@ try
         SiteServiceRegistration.Configure(builder.Services, builder.Configuration);
 
         var app = builder.Build();
+        hostStopping = app.Lifetime.ApplicationStopping;
 
         // Endpoint routing middleware. The gRPC service mapping below and the
         // /metrics scrape endpoint both run on endpoint routing, so UseRouting()
@@ -890,6 +898,11 @@ try
         throw new InvalidOperationException($"Unknown role: {nodeRole}. Must be 'Central' or 'Site'.");
     }
 }
+catch (Exception ex) when (Program.IsGracefulShutdown(ex, hostStopping))
+{
+    // Routine stop: shutdown was requested and the host unwound with a cancellation. Not a fatal exit.
+    Log.Information("ScadaBridge host stopped (shutdown requested)");
+}
 catch (Exception ex)
 {
     Log.Fatal(ex, "ScadaBridge host terminated unexpectedly");
@@ -905,6 +918,19 @@ finally
 /// </summary>
 public partial class Program
 {
+    /// <summary>
+    /// True when <paramref name="ex"/> is the cancellation a routine host stop produces: an
+    /// <see cref="OperationCanceledException"/> (incl. <see cref="TaskCanceledException"/>) escaping
+    /// <c>RunAsync</c> while the host's <c>ApplicationStopping</c> token is already cancelled
+    /// (ScadaBridge#76). Anything else - a non-cancellation exception, or a cancellation with no
+    /// shutdown requested - is still a genuine fatal exit and must keep logging <c>[FTL]</c>.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="ex">The exception that escaped the host run.</param>
+    /// <param name="hostStopping">The host's <c>ApplicationStopping</c> token (default if the host never built).</param>
+    /// <returns>True when the exception is the expected cancellation of a requested shutdown.</returns>
+    internal static bool IsGracefulShutdown(Exception ex, CancellationToken hostStopping) =>
+        ex is OperationCanceledException && hostStopping.IsCancellationRequested;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Extracts the distinct TCP ports from an ASP.NET Core server-URLs string (the
     /// <c>ASPNETCORE_URLS</c> / <c>--urls</c> value, e.g. <c>"http://+:5000"</c> or a
diff --git a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host.Tests/GracefulShutdownTests.cs b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host.Tests/GracefulShutdownTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..67474d4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host.Tests/GracefulShutdownTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.Host.Tests;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// ScadaBridge#76: a routine Windows service stop must not be logged as
+/// <c>[FTL] host terminated unexpectedly</c>.
+/// </summary>
+public class GracefulShutdownTests
+{
+    /// <summary>A cancellation escaping RunAsync after ApplicationStopping fired is a routine stop.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void Cancellation_AfterStopRequested_IsGraceful()
+    {
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
+        cts.Cancel();
+
+        Assert.True(Program.IsGracefulShutdown(new OperationCanceledException(), cts.Token));
+        Assert.True(Program.IsGracefulShutdown(new TaskCanceledException(), cts.Token));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>A cancellation with no shutdown requested is still a genuine failure.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void Cancellation_WithoutStopRequested_IsNotGraceful()
+    {
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
+
+        Assert.False(Program.IsGracefulShutdown(new OperationCanceledException(), cts.Token));
+        Assert.False(Program.IsGracefulShutdown(new OperationCanceledException(), CancellationToken.None));
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>A real fault during shutdown must still be reported as fatal.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void NonCancellationException_IsNeverGraceful()
+    {
+        using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
+        cts.Cancel();
+
+        Assert.False(Program.IsGracefulShutdown(new InvalidOperationException("boom"), cts.Token));
+    }
+}