diff --git a/kubespawner/reflector.py b/kubespawner/reflector.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/kubespawner/reflector.py
+++ b/kubespawner/reflector.py
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ class NamespacedResourceReflector(LoggingConfigurable):
 
         self.start()
 
+    def __del__(self):
+        self.stop()
+
     def _list_and_update(self):
         """
         Update current list of resources by doing a full fetch.
Add __del__ for reflector

Event reflectors are stopped when pods are successfully launched. slow/failed launch needs this to cleanup watcher.