diff --git a/services/kafka/service.go b/services/kafka/service.go
index 2a04bff2a..928d73f15 100644
--- a/services/kafka/service.go
+++ b/services/kafka/service.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/keyvalue"
 	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/server/vars"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-	kafka "github.com/segmentio/kafka-go"
+	"github.com/segmentio/kafka-go"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -51,7 +51,11 @@ type writer struct {
 	wg sync.WaitGroup
 
 	statsKey string
-	ticker   *time.Ticker
+
+	// time.Ticker doesn't expose any way to close its internal channel,
+	// so we have to use a side-channel to signal when it's been stopped.
+	ticker     *time.Ticker
+	tickerDone chan struct{}
 }
 
 func (w *writer) Open() {
@@ -71,6 +75,7 @@ func (w *writer) Open() {
 	statsMap.Set(statWriteMessageCount, writeMessages)
 
 	w.ticker = time.NewTicker(time.Second)
+	w.tickerDone = make(chan struct{}, 1)
 	w.wg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		defer w.wg.Done()
@@ -80,6 +85,7 @@ func (w *writer) Open() {
 
 func (w *writer) Close() {
 	w.ticker.Stop()
+	close(w.tickerDone)
 	vars.DeleteStatistic(w.statsKey)
 	w.kafka.Close()
 	w.wg.Wait()
@@ -89,10 +95,15 @@ func (w *writer) Close() {
 // A read operation on the kafka.Writer.Stats() method causes the internal counters to be reset.
 // As a result we control all reads through this method.
 func (w *writer) pollStats() {
-	for range w.ticker.C {
-		stats := w.kafka.Stats()
-		atomic.AddInt64(&w.messageCount, stats.Messages)
-		atomic.AddInt64(&w.errorCount, stats.Errors)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-w.tickerDone:
+			return
+		case <-w.ticker.C:
+			stats := w.kafka.Stats()
+			atomic.AddInt64(&w.messageCount, stats.Messages)
+			atomic.AddInt64(&w.errorCount, stats.Errors)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/services/kafka/service_test.go b/services/kafka/service_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a3d059d46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/kafka/service_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package kafka_test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/services/diagnostic"
+	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/services/kafka"
+	"github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/services/kafka/kafkatest"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestWriter_UpdateConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	ts, err := kafkatest.NewServer()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	c := kafka.NewConfig()
+	c.Enabled = true
+	c.Brokers = []string{ts.Addr.String()}
+
+	cluster := kafka.NewCluster(c)
+	defer cluster.Close()
+	diag := diagnostic.NewService(diagnostic.NewConfig(), os.Stderr, os.Stdin)
+	require.NoError(t, diag.Open())
+	defer diag.Close()
+
+	// Write a message to generate a writer.
+	require.NoError(t, cluster.WriteMessage(diag.NewKafkaHandler(), "testTopic", []byte{1, 2, 3, 4}, []byte{1, 2, 3, 4}))
+
+	// Update the config in a way that requires shutting down all active writers.
+	c.UseSSL = true
+	require.NoError(t, cluster.Update(c))
+}