diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index b7c213668..743ae0c66 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ func main() {
 		log.Error("failed to initialize service", "error", err)
 		exitFunc(1)
 	}
+	defer svc.Close()
 
 	server := &http.Server{
 		Handler:           svc.Router,
diff --git a/pkg/routing/router.go b/pkg/routing/router.go
index f5249237f..39863d86d 100644
--- a/pkg/routing/router.go
+++ b/pkg/routing/router.go
@@ -13,6 +13,25 @@ import (
 	"github.com/docker/model-runner/pkg/responses"
 )
 
+// RouterResult is the output of NewRouter, bundling the mux with any
+// resources that require cleanup.
+type RouterResult struct {
+	Mux *NormalizedServeMux
+	// closers holds cleanup functions that must be called when the
+	// router is no longer needed (e.g. to stop the responses Store
+	// background goroutine).
+	closers []func()
+}
+
+// Close releases resources held by handlers registered on this router.
+// It is idempotent and safe to call multiple times.
+func (rr *RouterResult) Close() {
+	for _, fn := range rr.closers {
+		fn()
+	}
+	rr.closers = nil
+}
+
 // RouterConfig holds the dependencies needed to build the standard
 // model-runner HTTP route structure.
 type RouterConfig struct {
@@ -41,8 +60,12 @@ type RouterConfig struct {
 // route structure: models endpoints, scheduler/inference endpoints,
 // path aliases (/v1/, /rerank, /score), Ollama compatibility, and
 // Anthropic compatibility.
-func NewRouter(cfg RouterConfig) *NormalizedServeMux {
+//
+// The returned RouterResult must be closed when the router is no longer
+// needed to stop background goroutines (e.g. the responses Store cleanup).
+func NewRouter(cfg RouterConfig) *RouterResult {
 	router := NewNormalizedServeMux()
+	result := &RouterResult{Mux: router}
 
 	// Models endpoints – optionally wrapped by middleware.
 	var modelEndpoint http.Handler = cfg.ModelHandler
@@ -78,7 +101,8 @@ func NewRouter(cfg RouterConfig) *NormalizedServeMux {
 		router.Handle("/v1"+responses.APIPrefix, responsesHandler)
 		router.Handle(inference.InferencePrefix+responses.APIPrefix+"/", responsesHandler)
 		router.Handle(inference.InferencePrefix+responses.APIPrefix, responsesHandler)
+		result.closers = append(result.closers, responsesHandler.Close)
 	}
 
-	return router
+	return result
 }
diff --git a/pkg/routing/router_test.go b/pkg/routing/router_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c3d8ceb2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/routing/router_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+package routing
+
+import (
+	"log/slog"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestNewRouter_WithResponsesAPI_Close verifies that creating a router with
+// IncludeResponsesAPI enabled and then calling Close does not leak
+// goroutines. The goleak detector in TestMain will catch any leak.
+func TestNewRouter_WithResponsesAPI_Close(t *testing.T) {
+	log := slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler)
+
+	result := NewRouter(RouterConfig{
+		Log:                 log,
+		IncludeResponsesAPI: true,
+		// Scheduler, ModelHandler, etc. are nil — the responses handler
+		// only needs them when actually serving requests, not for route
+		// registration and cleanup.
+	})
+
+	// Verify the mux was created.
+	if result.Mux == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil Mux")
+	}
+
+	// Close must stop the responses Store cleanup goroutine.
+	result.Close()
+}
+
+// TestNewRouter_WithoutResponsesAPI_Close verifies that Close is safe
+// to call even when the Responses API is not enabled (no closers).
+func TestNewRouter_WithoutResponsesAPI_Close(t *testing.T) {
+	log := slog.New(slog.DiscardHandler)
+
+	result := NewRouter(RouterConfig{
+		Log:                 log,
+		IncludeResponsesAPI: false,
+	})
+
+	if result.Mux == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil Mux")
+	}
+
+	// Should be a no-op, must not panic.
+	result.Close()
+}
diff --git a/pkg/routing/service.go b/pkg/routing/service.go
index 207e2e995..408cf510e 100644
--- a/pkg/routing/service.go
+++ b/pkg/routing/service.go
@@ -74,6 +74,19 @@ type Service struct {
 	SchedulerHTTP *scheduling.HTTPHandler
 	Router        *NormalizedServeMux
 	Backends      map[string]inference.Backend
+	// routerResult holds the RouterResult so we can close it on shutdown.
+	routerResult *RouterResult
+}
+
+// Close releases resources held by the service (e.g. the responses
+// Store cleanup goroutine). It is safe to call on a nil receiver and
+// idempotent — subsequent calls are no-ops.
+func (s *Service) Close() {
+	if s == nil || s.routerResult == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	s.routerResult.Close()
+	s.routerResult = nil
 }
 
 // NewService wires up the full inference service stack from the given
@@ -109,7 +122,7 @@ func NewService(cfg ServiceConfig) (*Service, error) {
 		Backends:      backends,
 	}
 
-	svc.Router = NewRouter(RouterConfig{
+	routerResult := NewRouter(RouterConfig{
 		Log:                    cfg.Log,
 		Scheduler:              scheduler,
 		SchedulerHTTP:          schedulerHTTP,
@@ -119,6 +132,8 @@ func NewService(cfg ServiceConfig) (*Service, error) {
 		ModelHandlerMiddleware: cfg.ModelHandlerMiddleware,
 		IncludeResponsesAPI:    cfg.IncludeResponsesAPI,
 	})
+	svc.Router = routerResult.Mux
+	svc.routerResult = routerResult
 
 	if cfg.ExtraRoutes != nil {
 		cfg.ExtraRoutes(svc.Router, svc)
diff --git a/pkg/routing/testmain_test.go b/pkg/routing/testmain_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..02e0fe4cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/routing/testmain_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package routing
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"go.uber.org/goleak"
+)
+
+// TestMain runs goleak after the test suite to detect goroutine leaks.
+func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
+	goleak.VerifyTestMain(m)
+}