diff --git a/cmd/ci-operator/main.go b/cmd/ci-operator/main.go
index a688c01e..fcdb0a57 100644
--- a/cmd/ci-operator/main.go
+++ b/cmd/ci-operator/main.go
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ type options struct {
 	extraInputHash      stringSlice
 	idleCleanupDuration time.Duration
 	cleanupDuration     time.Duration
+	graceDuration       time.Duration
 
 	inputHash     string
 	secrets       []*coreapi.Secret
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@ func bindOptions(flag *flag.FlagSet) *options {
 	opt := &options{
 		idleCleanupDuration: time.Duration(1 * time.Hour),
 		cleanupDuration:     time.Duration(12 * time.Hour),
+		graceDuration:       time.Duration(coreapi.DefaultTerminationGracePeriodSeconds * time.Second),
 	}
 
 	// command specific options
@@ -229,6 +231,7 @@ func bindOptions(flag *flag.FlagSet) *options {
 	flag.StringVar(&opt.baseNamespace, "base-namespace", "stable", "Namespace to read builds from, defaults to stable.")
 	flag.DurationVar(&opt.idleCleanupDuration, "delete-when-idle", opt.idleCleanupDuration, "If no pod is running for longer than this interval, delete the namespace. Set to zero to retain the contents. Requires the namespace TTL controller to be deployed.")
 	flag.DurationVar(&opt.cleanupDuration, "delete-after", opt.cleanupDuration, "If namespace exists for longer than this interval, delete the namespace. Set to zero to retain the contents. Requires the namespace TTL controller to be deployed.")
+	flag.DurationVar(&opt.graceDuration, "grace-period", opt.graceDuration, "Interval to wait after requesting pod termination before killing the pod.  ci-operator itself will wait an additional 30 seconds to try and receive the successful deletion response.")
 
 	// actions to add to the graph
 	flag.BoolVar(&opt.promote, "promote", false, "When all other targets complete, publish the set of images built by this job into the release configuration.")
@@ -296,6 +299,7 @@ func (o *options) Complete() error {
 		jobSpec.Refs = spec.Refs
 	}
 	jobSpec.BaseNamespace = o.baseNamespace
+	jobSpec.GracePeriod = &o.graceDuration
 	o.jobSpec = jobSpec
 
 	if o.dry && o.verbose {
@@ -392,9 +396,10 @@ func (o *options) Run() error {
 		if o.dry {
 			os.Exit(0)
 		}
-		log.Printf("error: Process interrupted with signal %s, exiting in 2s ...", s)
+		duration := o.graceDuration + 30*time.Second
+		log.Printf("error: Process interrupted with signal %s, exiting in %v ...", s, duration)
 		cancel()
-		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+		time.Sleep(duration)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/api/job_spec.go b/pkg/api/job_spec.go
index dafee768..c67d8a23 100644
--- a/pkg/api/job_spec.go
+++ b/pkg/api/job_spec.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	meta "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ type JobSpec struct {
 	Namespace     string
 	BaseNamespace string
 
+	GracePeriod *time.Duration
+
 	// if set, any new artifacts will be a child of this object
 	owner *meta.OwnerReference
 }
diff --git a/pkg/steps/artifacts.go b/pkg/steps/artifacts.go
index 2a2cc6dd..15e66e64 100644
--- a/pkg/steps/artifacts.go
+++ b/pkg/steps/artifacts.go
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ func (w *ArtifactWorker) downloadArtifacts(podName string, hasArtifacts bool) er
 	}
 
 	defer func() {
-		// signal to artifacts container to gracefully shut don
+		// signal to artifacts container to gracefully shut down
 		err := removeFile(w.podClient, w.namespace, podName, "artifacts", []string{"/tmp/done"})
 		if err == nil {
 			return
diff --git a/pkg/steps/pod.go b/pkg/steps/pod.go
index f7252f78..e98f5150 100644
--- a/pkg/steps/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/steps/pod.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"math"
 	"path/filepath"
 
 	coreapi "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
@@ -93,7 +94,12 @@ func (s *podStep) Run(ctx context.Context, dry bool) error {
 		<-ctx.Done()
 		notifier.Cancel()
 		log.Printf("cleanup: Deleting %s pod %s", s.name, s.config.As)
-		if err := s.podClient.Pods(s.jobSpec.Namespace).Delete(s.config.As, nil); err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		opts := &meta.DeleteOptions{}
+		if s.jobSpec.GracePeriod != nil {
+			sec := int64(math.Ceil(s.jobSpec.GracePeriod.Seconds()))
+			opts.GracePeriodSeconds = &sec
+		}
+		if err := s.podClient.Pods(s.jobSpec.Namespace).Delete(s.config.As, opts); err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
 			log.Printf("error: Could not delete %s pod: %v", s.name, err)
 		}
 	}()