diff --git a/clientv3/integration/lease_test.go b/clientv3/integration/lease_test.go
index 6429eef54..82cd8a767 100644
--- a/clientv3/integration/lease_test.go
+++ b/clientv3/integration/lease_test.go
@@ -553,3 +553,24 @@ func TestLeaseRenewLostQuorum(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("timed out waiting for keepalive")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestLeaseKeepAliveLoopExit(t *testing.T) {
+	defer testutil.AfterTest(t)
+
+	clus := integration.NewClusterV3(t, &integration.ClusterConfig{Size: 1})
+	defer clus.Terminate(t)
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	cli := clus.Client(0)
+
+	resp, err := cli.Grant(ctx, 5)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	cli.Lease.Close()
+
+	_, err = cli.KeepAlive(ctx, resp.ID)
+	if _, ok := err.(clientv3.ErrKeepAliveHalted); !ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected %T, got %v(%T)", clientv3.ErrKeepAliveHalted{}, err, err)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/clientv3/lease.go b/clientv3/lease.go
index d3b587e8f..81c9c6072 100644
--- a/clientv3/lease.go
+++ b/clientv3/lease.go
@@ -69,6 +69,21 @@ const (
 	NoLease LeaseID = 0
 )
 
+// ErrKeepAliveHalted is returned if client keep alive loop halts with an unexpected error.
+//
+// This usually means that automatic lease renewal via KeepAlive is broken, but KeepAliveOnce will still work as expected.
+type ErrKeepAliveHalted struct {
+	Reason error
+}
+
+func (e ErrKeepAliveHalted) Error() string {
+	s := "etcdclient: leases keep alive halted"
+	if e.Reason != nil {
+		s += ": " + e.Reason.Error()
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
 type Lease interface {
 	// Grant creates a new lease.
 	Grant(ctx context.Context, ttl int64) (*LeaseGrantResponse, error)
@@ -94,8 +109,9 @@ type Lease interface {
 type lessor struct {
 	mu sync.Mutex // guards all fields
 
-	// donec is closed when recvKeepAliveLoop stops
-	donec chan struct{}
+	// donec is closed and loopErr is set when recvKeepAliveLoop stops
+	donec   chan struct{}
+	loopErr error
 
 	remote pb.LeaseClient
 
@@ -216,6 +232,15 @@ func (l *lessor) KeepAlive(ctx context.Context, id LeaseID) (<-chan *LeaseKeepAl
 	ch := make(chan *LeaseKeepAliveResponse, leaseResponseChSize)
 
 	l.mu.Lock()
+	// ensure that recvKeepAliveLoop is still running
+	select {
+	case <-l.donec:
+		err := l.loopErr
+		l.mu.Unlock()
+		close(ch)
+		return ch, ErrKeepAliveHalted{Reason: err}
+	default:
+	}
 	ka, ok := l.keepAlives[id]
 	if !ok {
 		// create fresh keep alive
@@ -327,10 +352,11 @@ func (l *lessor) keepAliveOnce(ctx context.Context, id LeaseID) (*LeaseKeepAlive
 	return karesp, nil
 }
 
-func (l *lessor) recvKeepAliveLoop() {
+func (l *lessor) recvKeepAliveLoop() (gerr error) {
 	defer func() {
 		l.mu.Lock()
 		close(l.donec)
+		l.loopErr = gerr
 		for _, ka := range l.keepAlives {
 			ka.Close()
 		}
@@ -343,13 +369,14 @@ func (l *lessor) recvKeepAliveLoop() {
 		resp, err := stream.Recv()
 		if err != nil {
 			if isHaltErr(l.stopCtx, err) {
-				return
+				return err
 			}
 			stream, serr = l.resetRecv()
 			continue
 		}
 		l.recvKeepAlive(resp)
 	}
+	return serr
 }
 
 // resetRecv opens a new lease stream and starts sending LeaseKeepAliveRequests