diff --git a/agent/worker.go b/agent/worker.go
index 212aa1e12f..efe538afa7 100644
--- a/agent/worker.go
+++ b/agent/worker.go
@@ -257,11 +257,13 @@ func reconcileTaskState(ctx context.Context, w *worker, assignments []*api.Assig
 	}
 
 	closeManager := func(tm *taskManager) {
-		defer w.closers.Done()
-		// when a task is no longer assigned, we shutdown the task manager
-		if err := tm.Close(); err != nil {
-			log.G(ctx).WithError(err).Error("error closing task manager")
-		}
+		go func(tm *taskManager) {
+			defer w.closers.Done()
+			// when a task is no longer assigned, we shutdown the task manager
+			if err := tm.Close(); err != nil {
+				log.G(ctx).WithError(err).Error("error closing task manager")
+			}
+		}(tm)
 
 		// make an attempt at removing. this is best effort. any errors will be
 		// retried by the reaper later.