diff --git a/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/App.java b/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/App.java
index 37df8e394..d386bb0b0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/App.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/App.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
@@ -89,12 +90,12 @@ public App(AppConfig appConfig) {
         this.appConfig = appConfig;
 
         ExecutorService collectionThreadPool =
-                Executors.newFixedThreadPool(appConfig.getThreadPoolSize());
+                buildExecutorService(appConfig.getThreadPoolSize());
         collectionProcessor =
                 new TaskProcessor(collectionThreadPool, appConfig.getReporter());
 
         ExecutorService recoveryThreadPool =
-                Executors.newFixedThreadPool(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize());
+                buildExecutorService(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize());
         recoveryProcessor = new TaskProcessor(recoveryThreadPool, appConfig.getReporter());
 
         // setup client
@@ -263,7 +264,7 @@ private void clearInstances(Collection<Instance> instances) {
                         + "previous one hogging threads");
                 recoveryProcessor.stop();
                 recoveryProcessor.setThreadPoolExecutor(
-                        Executors.newFixedThreadPool(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize()));
+                        buildExecutorService(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize()));
             }
 
             List<TaskStatusHandler> statuses =
@@ -290,6 +291,24 @@ public TaskStatusHandler invoke(
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Builds an {@link ExecutorService} of the specified fixed size. Threads will be created
+     * and executed as daemons if {@link AppConfig#isDaemon()} is true. Defaults to false.
+     *
+     * @param size The thread pool size
+     * @return The create executor
+     */
+    private ExecutorService buildExecutorService(int size) {
+        return Executors.newFixedThreadPool(size, new ThreadFactory() {
+            @Override
+            public Thread newThread(Runnable runnable) {
+                Thread thread = Executors.defaultThreadFactory().newThread(runnable);
+                thread.setDaemon(appConfig.isDaemon());
+                return thread;
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
     private String getAutoDiscoveryName(String config) {
         String[] splitted = config.split(System.getProperty("line.separator"), 2);
 
@@ -470,7 +489,7 @@ public void doIteration() {
                         + "previous one hogging threads");
                 collectionProcessor.stop();
                 collectionProcessor.setThreadPoolExecutor(
-                        Executors.newFixedThreadPool(appConfig.getThreadPoolSize()));
+                        buildExecutorService(appConfig.getThreadPoolSize()));
             }
 
             List<TaskStatusHandler> statuses =
@@ -556,7 +575,7 @@ private void fixBrokenInstances(Reporter reporter) {
                         + "previous one hogging threads");
                 recoveryProcessor.stop();
                 recoveryProcessor.setThreadPoolExecutor(
-                        Executors.newFixedThreadPool(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize()));
+                        buildExecutorService(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize()));
             }
 
             Collections.shuffle(fixInstanceTasks);
@@ -885,7 +904,7 @@ public void init(boolean forceNewConnection) {
                         + "previous one hogging threads");
                 recoveryProcessor.stop();
                 recoveryProcessor.setThreadPoolExecutor(
-                        Executors.newFixedThreadPool(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize()));
+                        buildExecutorService(appConfig.getReconnectionThreadPoolSize()));
             }
 
             List<TaskStatusHandler> statuses =
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/AppConfig.java b/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/AppConfig.java
index 9185fc547..7817d102a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/AppConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/AppConfig.java
@@ -207,6 +207,14 @@ public class AppConfig {
     @Builder.Default
     private boolean targetDirectInstances = false;
 
+    /**
+     * Boolean setting to determine whether internal executors are launched as daemons or not.
+     * This is useful when JMXFetch is embedded in a client app, e.g. for the java tracer,
+     * so that the client app's exit doesn't block on the termination of these internal threads.
+     */
+    @Builder.Default
+    private boolean daemon = false;
+
     // This is used by things like APM agent to provide configuration from resources
     private List<String> instanceConfigResources;
     // This is used by things like APM agent to provide metric configuration from resources
@@ -365,4 +373,11 @@ public Integer getRefreshBeansPeriod() {
     public Map<String, String> getGlobalTags() {
         return globalTags;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @return Whether or not internal threads will be run as daemon.
+     */
+    public boolean isDaemon() {
+        return daemon;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/tasks/TaskProcessor.java b/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/tasks/TaskProcessor.java
index ad57573ee..f3fc1fb48 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/tasks/TaskProcessor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/datadog/jmxfetch/tasks/TaskProcessor.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public void setThreadPoolExecutor(ExecutorService executor) {
      * */
     public boolean ready() {
         ThreadPoolExecutor tpe = (ThreadPoolExecutor) threadPoolExecutor;
-        return !(tpe.getMaximumPoolSize() == tpe.getActiveCount());
+        return !tpe.isTerminated() && !(tpe.getMaximumPoolSize() == tpe.getActiveCount());
     }
 
     /**