diff --git a/Lib/socketserver.py b/Lib/socketserver.py
index 9dfd21bab9b6f9..f0377918e89436 100644
--- a/Lib/socketserver.py
+++ b/Lib/socketserver.py
@@ -230,6 +230,9 @@ def serve_forever(self, poll_interval=0.5):
 
                 while not self.__shutdown_request:
                     ready = selector.select(poll_interval)
+                    # bpo-35017: shutdown() called during select(), exit immediately.
+                    if self.__shutdown_request:
+                        break
                     if ready:
                         self._handle_request_noblock()
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2018-10-26-00-11-21.bpo-35017.6Ez4Cv.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2018-10-26-00-11-21.bpo-35017.6Ez4Cv.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..5682717adf70f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2018-10-26-00-11-21.bpo-35017.6Ez4Cv.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+:meth:`socketserver.BaseServer.serve_forever` now exits immediately if it's
+:meth:`~socketserver.BaseServer.shutdown` method is called while it is
+polling for new events.