diff --git a/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc.go b/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc.go
index 7006eec4647f..04846ebf11dd 100644
--- a/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc.go
+++ b/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc.go
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //
-// (C) Copyright 2020-2023 Intel Corporation.
+// (C) Copyright 2020-2024 Intel Corporation.
+// (C) Copyright 2025 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
 //
@@ -8,10 +9,10 @@ package server
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
 
 	"github.com/daos-stack/daos/src/control/common/proto/convert"
@@ -167,10 +168,11 @@ func (svc *ControlService) StopRanks(ctx context.Context, req *ctlpb.RanksReq) (
 		return nil, errors.New("no ranks specified in request")
 	}
 
-	signal := syscall.SIGINT
-	if req.Force {
-		signal = syscall.SIGKILL
-	}
+	// DAOS-16312 NOTE: SIGINT or SIGTERM are more traditional signals to use to terminate *nix
+	//                  processes as they allow the processes to perform cleanup tasks before
+	//                  shutdown. SIGKILL is now being used to avoid potential data loss issues
+	//                  related to problems in clean shutdown of engines. The rationale maybe
+	//                  similar to how STONITH is used in high-availability systems.
 
 	instances, err := svc.harness.FilterInstancesByRankSet(req.GetRanks())
 	if err != nil {
@@ -185,8 +187,8 @@ func (svc *ControlService) StopRanks(ctx context.Context, req *ctlpb.RanksReq) (
 		if !ei.IsStarted() {
 			continue
 		}
-		if err := ei.Stop(signal); err != nil {
-			return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "sending %s", signal)
+		if err := ei.Stop(unix.SIGKILL); err != nil {
+			return nil, errors.Wrapf(err, "sending kill signal")
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc_test.go b/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc_test.go
index 9355a04bce8b..bc2f57806fe9 100644
--- a/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc_test.go
+++ b/src/control/server/ctl_ranks_rpc_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //
 // (C) Copyright 2020-2024 Intel Corporation.
+// (C) Copyright 2025 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
 //
@@ -279,7 +280,7 @@ func TestServer_CtlSvc_StopRanks(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		"instances successfully stopped": {
 			req:            &ctlpb.RanksReq{Ranks: "0-3"},
-			expSignalsSent: map[uint32]os.Signal{0: syscall.SIGINT, 1: syscall.SIGINT},
+			expSignalsSent: map[uint32]os.Signal{0: syscall.SIGKILL, 1: syscall.SIGKILL},
 			expResults: []*sharedpb.RankResult{
 				{Rank: 1, State: msStopped},
 				{Rank: 2, State: msStopped},
@@ -296,7 +297,7 @@ func TestServer_CtlSvc_StopRanks(t *testing.T) {
 		"instances not stopped in time": {
 			req:               &ctlpb.RanksReq{Ranks: "0-3"},
 			timeout:           time.Second,
-			expSignalsSent:    map[uint32]os.Signal{0: syscall.SIGINT, 1: syscall.SIGINT},
+			expSignalsSent:    map[uint32]os.Signal{0: syscall.SIGKILL, 1: syscall.SIGKILL},
 			instancesDontStop: true,
 			expErr:            errors.New("deadline exceeded"),
 		},
diff --git a/src/control/server/mgmt_system.go b/src/control/server/mgmt_system.go
index 91d51e176900..cc71a1905db6 100644
--- a/src/control/server/mgmt_system.go
+++ b/src/control/server/mgmt_system.go
@@ -832,8 +832,8 @@ func (svc *mgmtSvc) SystemStop(ctx context.Context, req *mgmtpb.SystemStopReq) (
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// First phase: Prepare the ranks for shutdown, but only if the request
-	// is for an unforced full system stop.
+	// First phase: Prepare the ranks for shutdown, but only if the request is for an unforced
+	// full system stop.
 	if fReq.FullSystem && !fReq.Force {
 		fReq.Method = control.PrepShutdownRanks
 		fResp, _, err = svc.rpcFanout(ctx, fReq, fResp, true)
diff --git a/src/tests/ftest/control/log_entry.py b/src/tests/ftest/control/log_entry.py
index c231ef750ec8..ce4a83a47c8d 100644
--- a/src/tests/ftest/control/log_entry.py
+++ b/src/tests/ftest/control/log_entry.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """
   (C) Copyright 2023 Intel Corporation.
+  (C) Copyright 2025 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
 
   SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
 """
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ def test_control_log_entry(self):
 
         self.log_step('Stop/start 2 random ranks')
         stop_ranks = self.random.sample(list(self.server_managers[0].ranks), k=2)
-        expected = [fr'rank {rank}.*exited with 0' for rank in stop_ranks] \
+        expected = [fr'rank {rank}.*killed' for rank in stop_ranks] \
             + [fr'process.*started on rank {rank}' for rank in stop_ranks]
         with self.verify_journalctl(expected):
             self.server_managers[0].stop_ranks(stop_ranks, self.d_log)