diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 07d3121668e..c61ac8dde62 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   ([#4494](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4494))
 - Improve CI by cancelling stale runs and setting timeouts
   ([#4498](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4498))
+- opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc: fix shutdown race condition
+  ([#4490](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4490))
 
 ## Version 1.31.0/0.52b0 (2025-03-12)
 
diff --git a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py
index 4be75c5335e..4ceeea22fb7 100644
--- a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py
+++ b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py
@@ -356,9 +356,10 @@ def shutdown(self, timeout_millis: float = 30_000, **kwargs) -> None:
         if self._shutdown:
             logger.warning("Exporter already shutdown, ignoring call")
             return
+        # set shutdown flag to prevent new exports
+        self._shutdown = True
         # wait for the last export if any
         self._export_lock.acquire(timeout=timeout_millis / 1e3)
-        self._shutdown = True
         self._channel.close()
         self._export_lock.release()