diff --git a/internal/balancer/gracefulswitch/gracefulswitch.go b/internal/balancer/gracefulswitch/gracefulswitch.go
index ba25b8988718..f38de74a4933 100644
--- a/internal/balancer/gracefulswitch/gracefulswitch.go
+++ b/internal/balancer/gracefulswitch/gracefulswitch.go
@@ -67,6 +67,10 @@ type Balancer struct {
 	// balancerCurrent before the UpdateSubConnState is called on the
 	// balancerCurrent.
 	currentMu sync.Mutex
+
+	// activeGoroutines tracks all the goroutines that this balancer has started
+	// and that should be waited on when the balancer closes.
+	activeGoroutines sync.WaitGroup
 }
 
 // swap swaps out the current lb with the pending lb and updates the ClientConn.
@@ -76,7 +80,9 @@ func (gsb *Balancer) swap() {
 	cur := gsb.balancerCurrent
 	gsb.balancerCurrent = gsb.balancerPending
 	gsb.balancerPending = nil
+	gsb.activeGoroutines.Add(1)
 	go func() {
+		defer gsb.activeGoroutines.Done()
 		gsb.currentMu.Lock()
 		defer gsb.currentMu.Unlock()
 		cur.Close()
@@ -274,6 +280,7 @@ func (gsb *Balancer) Close() {
 
 	currentBalancerToClose.Close()
 	pendingBalancerToClose.Close()
+	gsb.activeGoroutines.Wait()
 }
 
 // balancerWrapper wraps a balancer.Balancer, and overrides some Balancer
@@ -324,7 +331,12 @@ func (bw *balancerWrapper) UpdateState(state balancer.State) {
 	defer bw.gsb.mu.Unlock()
 	bw.lastState = state
 
+	// If Close() acquires the mutex before UpdateState(), the balancer
+	// will already have been removed from the current or pending state when
+	// reaching this point.
 	if !bw.gsb.balancerCurrentOrPending(bw) {
+		// Returning here ensures that (*Balancer).swap() is not invoked after
+		// (*Balancer).Close() and therefore prevents "use after close".
 		return
 	}