diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/AbstractMetricExporter.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/AbstractMetricExporter.java
index 6bc35191fa..05a7782f7d 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/AbstractMetricExporter.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/AbstractMetricExporter.java
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 
 package org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.export;
 
+import java.io.Closeable;
+import java.io.Flushable;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * @author Dave Syer
  * @since 1.3.0
  */
-public abstract class AbstractMetricExporter implements Exporter {
+public abstract class AbstractMetricExporter implements Exporter, Closeable, Flushable {
 
 	private static final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(AbstractMetricExporter.class);
 
@@ -143,6 +146,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractMetricExporter implements Exporter {
 		}
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public void close() throws IOException {
+		export();
+		flushQuietly();
+	}
+
+	@Override
 	public void flush() {
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/MetricExporters.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/MetricExporters.java
index ceb2095a1b..204c7e48a1 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/MetricExporters.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/metrics/export/MetricExporters.java
@@ -16,9 +16,13 @@
 
 package org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.export;
 
+import java.io.Closeable;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.reader.MetricReader;
 import org.springframework.boot.actuate.metrics.writer.GaugeWriter;
@@ -32,7 +36,7 @@ import org.springframework.scheduling.config.ScheduledTaskRegistrar;
  * @author Dave Syer
  * @since 1.3.0
  */
-public class MetricExporters implements SchedulingConfigurer {
+public class MetricExporters implements SchedulingConfigurer, Closeable {
 
 	private MetricReader reader;
 
@@ -42,6 +46,8 @@ public class MetricExporters implements SchedulingConfigurer {
 
 	private final Map<String, Exporter> exporters = new HashMap<String, Exporter>();
 
+	private final Set<String> closeables = new HashSet<String>();
+
 	public MetricExporters(MetricExportProperties properties) {
 		this.properties = properties;
 	}
@@ -78,6 +84,7 @@ public class MetricExporters implements SchedulingConfigurer {
 			if (trigger != null) {
 				MetricCopyExporter exporter = getExporter(writer, trigger);
 				this.exporters.put(name, exporter);
+				this.closeables.add(name);
 				ExportRunner runner = new ExportRunner(exporter);
 				IntervalTask task = new IntervalTask(runner, trigger.getDelayMillis(),
 						trigger.getDelayMillis());
@@ -99,6 +106,16 @@ public class MetricExporters implements SchedulingConfigurer {
 		return this.exporters;
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public void close() throws IOException {
+		for (String name : this.closeables) {
+			Exporter exporter = this.exporters.get(name);
+			if (exporter instanceof Closeable) {
+				((Closeable) exporter).close();
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	private static class ExportRunner implements Runnable {
 
 		private final Exporter exporter;
diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/MetricExportAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/MetricExportAutoConfigurationTests.java
index 170258fd6b..08a5e440ce 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/MetricExportAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/MetricExportAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -68,6 +68,21 @@ public class MetricExportAutoConfigurationTests {
 		}
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void metricsFlushAutomatically() throws Exception {
+		this.context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(WriterConfig.class,
+				MetricRepositoryAutoConfiguration.class,
+				MetricExportAutoConfiguration.class,
+				PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration.class);
+		GaugeService gaugeService = this.context.getBean(GaugeService.class);
+		assertNotNull(gaugeService);
+		gaugeService.submit("foo", 2.7);
+		MetricExporters flusher = this.context.getBean(MetricExporters.class);
+		flusher.close(); // this will be called by Spring on shutdown
+		MetricWriter writer = this.context.getBean("writer", MetricWriter.class);
+		Mockito.verify(writer, Mockito.atLeastOnce()).set(Matchers.any(Metric.class));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void defaultExporterWhenMessageChannelAvailable() throws Exception {
 		this.context = new AnnotationConfigApplicationContext(