diff --git a/nemo_rl/distributed/virtual_cluster.py b/nemo_rl/distributed/virtual_cluster.py
index 16e589d0ed..566b6550ca 100644
--- a/nemo_rl/distributed/virtual_cluster.py
+++ b/nemo_rl/distributed/virtual_cluster.py
@@ -1018,6 +1018,11 @@ def shutdown(self) -> bool:
 
         This method is idempotent and can be safely called multiple times.
         """
+        # Skip if Ray is already gone (typically from __del__ during _Py_Finalize
+        # after Ray's atexit teardown). Any Ray API call would trigger a fatal
+        # core_worker_process.cc:88 CHECK. Placement groups die with Ray.
+        if not ray.is_initialized():
+            return True
         if self._node_placement_groups is not None:
             # Remove all placement groups
             for pg in self._node_placement_groups: