diff --git a/os-win32.c b/os-win32.c
index ad76370c7c780b5e9112c6b09a0e0ec80f7e7392..13892ba3206d63ed6c23aa4e5c60d897c8240619 100644
--- a/os-win32.c
+++ b/os-win32.c
@@ -57,7 +57,13 @@ int setenv(const char *name, const char *value, int overwrite)
 
 static BOOL WINAPI qemu_ctrl_handler(DWORD type)
 {
-    exit(STATUS_CONTROL_C_EXIT);
+    qemu_system_shutdown_request();
+    /* Windows 7 kills application when the function returns.
+       Sleep here to give QEMU a try for closing.
+       Sleep period is 10000ms because Windows kills the program
+       after 10 seconds anyway. */
+    Sleep(10000);
+
     return TRUE;
 }