diff --git a/src/main/java/com/password4j/Argon2Function.java b/src/main/java/com/password4j/Argon2Function.java
index 40e1cee..576209b 100755
--- a/src/main/java/com/password4j/Argon2Function.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/password4j/Argon2Function.java
@@ -166,6 +166,11 @@ protected static String getUID(int memory, int iterations, int parallelism, int
         return memory + "|" + iterations + "|" + parallelism + "|" + outputLength + "|" + type.ordinal() + "|" + version;
     }
 
+    static void clearInstances()
+    {
+        INSTANCES.clear();
+    }
+
     private static byte[] getInitialHashLong(byte[] initialHash, byte[] appendix)
     {
         byte[] initialHashLong = new byte[ARGON2_INITIAL_SEED_LENGTH];
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/password4j/BalloonHashingFunction.java b/src/main/java/com/password4j/BalloonHashingFunction.java
index 785161e..11dc9c8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/password4j/BalloonHashingFunction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/password4j/BalloonHashingFunction.java
@@ -88,6 +88,11 @@ private static String getUID(String algorithm, int spaceCost, int timeCost, int
         return algorithm + '|' + spaceCost + '|' + timeCost + '|' + parallelism + '|' + delta;
     }
 
+    static void clearInstances()
+    {
+        INSTANCES.clear();
+    }
+
     protected static String toString(String algorithm, int spaceCost, int timeCost, int parallelism, int delta)
     {
         return "a=" + algorithm + ", s=" + spaceCost + ", t=" + timeCost + ", p=" + parallelism + ", d=" + delta;
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/password4j/Password.java b/src/main/java/com/password4j/Password.java
index cc0a508..79c7d69 100755
--- a/src/main/java/com/password4j/Password.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/password4j/Password.java
@@ -42,6 +42,24 @@ private Password()
         //
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Shuts down all internal worker thread pools used by parallel hashing functions
+     * (Argon2, Balloon) and clears their cached instances. This is intended for
+     * environments with a lifecycle shorter than the JVM — typically servlet
+     * containers, where it should be invoked from {@code ServletContextListener.contextDestroyed}
+     * to prevent thread/classloader leaks on webapp undeploy.
+     * <p>
+     * After this call, subsequent hashing requests will lazily re-create the workers.
+     * In a plain-JVM application it is not necessary to invoke this method: worker
+     * threads are daemons and are shut down automatically when the JVM exits.
+     *
+     * @since 1.8.5
+     */
+    public static void shutdown()
+    {
+        Utils.shutdownExecutors();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Starts to hash the given plain text password.
      * <p>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/password4j/Utils.java b/src/main/java/com/password4j/Utils.java
index 6be8026..e24e477 100755
--- a/src/main/java/com/password4j/Utils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/password4j/Utils.java
@@ -29,9 +29,12 @@
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.security.*;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Random;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
@@ -55,6 +58,10 @@ class Utils
 
     private static final ThreadGroup THREAD_GROUP = new ThreadGroup("Password4j Workers");
 
+    private static final Set<ExecutorService> EXECUTORS = Collections.newSetFromMap(new ConcurrentHashMap<>());
+
+    private static volatile Thread shutdownHook;
+
     static
     {
         Arrays.fill(FROM_BASE64, -1);
@@ -669,12 +676,55 @@ static ExecutorService createExecutorService()
             return thread;
         });
 
-        addShutdownHook(executorService);
+        EXECUTORS.add(executorService);
+        ensureShutdownHook();
         return executorService;
     }
 
-    static void addShutdownHook(ExecutorService executorService)
+    private static synchronized void ensureShutdownHook()
     {
-        Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(new Thread(executorService::shutdownNow, "password4j-shutdownhook"));
+        if (shutdownHook != null)
+        {
+            return;
+        }
+        Thread hook = new Thread(() -> {
+            for (ExecutorService service : EXECUTORS)
+            {
+                service.shutdownNow();
+            }
+            EXECUTORS.clear();
+        }, "password4j-shutdownhook");
+        try
+        {
+            Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(hook);
+            shutdownHook = hook;
+        }
+        catch (IllegalStateException e)
+        {
+            // JVM is already shutting down; no hook needed.
+        }
+    }
+
+    static synchronized void shutdownExecutors()
+    {
+        for (ExecutorService service : EXECUTORS)
+        {
+            service.shutdownNow();
+        }
+        EXECUTORS.clear();
+        Argon2Function.clearInstances();
+        BalloonHashingFunction.clearInstances();
+        if (shutdownHook != null)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                Runtime.getRuntime().removeShutdownHook(shutdownHook);
+            }
+            catch (IllegalStateException e)
+            {
+                // JVM is shutting down; the hook is running or finished. Nothing to do.
+            }
+            shutdownHook = null;
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/com/password4j/PasswordTest.java b/src/test/com/password4j/PasswordTest.java
index 56d8872..017ff9d 100755
--- a/src/test/com/password4j/PasswordTest.java
+++ b/src/test/com/password4j/PasswordTest.java
@@ -1272,4 +1272,51 @@ public PermissionCollection getPermissions(CodeSource codesource)
             return;
         }
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shutdownStopsWorkerThreadsAndPermitsReuse()
+    {
+        // Prime the pool so worker threads exist.
+        Argon2Function argon2 = Argon2Function.getInstance(256, 1, 2, 32, Argon2.ID);
+        Password.hash("password").with(argon2);
+        assertTrue("worker threads should exist before shutdown", workerThreadCount() > 0);
+
+        Password.shutdown();
+
+        // After shutdown the workers should wind down quickly (daemon interrupt).
+        long deadline = System.currentTimeMillis() + 2000;
+        while (workerThreadCount() > 0 && System.currentTimeMillis() < deadline)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                Thread.sleep(20);
+            }
+            catch (InterruptedException e)
+            {
+                Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        assertEquals("worker threads must be terminated after shutdown", 0, workerThreadCount());
+
+        // Hashing must still work afterwards: a fresh pool is created lazily.
+        Argon2Function argon2Again = Argon2Function.getInstance(256, 1, 2, 32, Argon2.ID);
+        Hash hash = Password.hash("password").with(argon2Again);
+        assertNotNull(hash.getResult());
+        assertTrue("worker threads should exist again after reuse", workerThreadCount() > 0);
+        Password.shutdown();
+    }
+
+    private static int workerThreadCount()
+    {
+        int count = 0;
+        for (Thread thread : Thread.getAllStackTraces().keySet())
+        {
+            if (thread.isAlive() && thread.getName().startsWith("password4j-worker-"))
+            {
+                count++;
+            }
+        }
+        return count;
+    }
 }