diff --git a/src/robusta/integrations/mail/sender.py b/src/robusta/integrations/mail/sender.py
index 5f01365f8..7ae711b0c 100644
--- a/src/robusta/integrations/mail/sender.py
+++ b/src/robusta/integrations/mail/sender.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
     LinksBlock,
     LinkProp,
     MarkdownBlock,
-    ScanReportBlock,
 )
 from robusta.core.reporting.consts import EnrichmentAnnotation, FindingSource
 from robusta.core.sinks.transformer import Transformer
@@ -68,7 +67,9 @@ def send_finding_via_email(self, finding: Finding, platform_enabled: bool):
             if finding.source == FindingSource.PROMETHEUS:
                 blocks.append(MarkdownBlock(f"{Emojis.Alert.value} *Alert:* {finding.description}"))
             elif finding.source == FindingSource.KUBERNETES_API_SERVER:
-                blocks.append(MarkdownBlock(f"{Emojis.K8Notification.value} *K8s event detected:* {finding.description}"))
+                blocks.append(
+                    MarkdownBlock(f"{Emojis.K8Notification.value} *K8s event detected:* {finding.description}")
+                )
             else:
                 blocks.append(MarkdownBlock(f"{Emojis.K8Notification.value} *Notification:* {finding.description}"))
 
diff --git a/src/robusta/model/config.py b/src/robusta/model/config.py
index 6b4338ad7..62710ff4f 100644
--- a/src/robusta/model/config.py
+++ b/src/robusta/model/config.py
@@ -51,32 +51,27 @@ def construct_new_sinks(
         new_sinks = existing_sinks.copy()
         # create new sinks, or update existing if changed
         for sink_config in new_sinks_config:
-            try:
-                # temporary workaround to skip the default and unconfigured robusta token
-                if (
-                    isinstance(sink_config, RobustaSinkConfigWrapper)
-                    and sink_config.robusta_sink.token == "<ROBUSTA_ACCOUNT_TOKEN>"
-                ):
-                    continue
-                if sink_config.get_name() not in new_sinks.keys():
-                    logging.info(f"Adding {type(sink_config)} sink named {sink_config.get_name()}")
-                    new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()] = SinkFactory.create_sink(sink_config, registry)
-                elif (
-                    sink_config.get_params() != new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].params
-                    or new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].is_global_config_changed()
-                ):
-                    config_change_msg = (
-                        "due to global config change"
-                        if new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].is_global_config_changed()
-                        else "due to param change"
-                    )
-                    logging.info(
-                        f"Updating {type(sink_config)} sink named {sink_config.get_name()} {config_change_msg}"
-                    )
-                    new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].stop()
-                    new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()] = SinkFactory.create_sink(sink_config, registry)
-            except Exception as e:
-                logging.error(f"Error configuring sink {sink_config.get_name()} of type {type(sink_config)}: {e}")
+            # temporary workaround to skip the default and unconfigured robusta token
+            if (
+                isinstance(sink_config, RobustaSinkConfigWrapper)
+                and sink_config.robusta_sink.token == "<ROBUSTA_ACCOUNT_TOKEN>"
+            ):
+                continue
+            if sink_config.get_name() not in new_sinks.keys():
+                logging.info(f"Adding {type(sink_config)} sink named {sink_config.get_name()}")
+                new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()] = SinkFactory.create_sink(sink_config, registry)
+            elif (
+                sink_config.get_params() != new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].params
+                or new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].is_global_config_changed()
+            ):
+                config_change_msg = (
+                    "due to global config change"
+                    if new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].is_global_config_changed()
+                    else "due to param change"
+                )
+                logging.info(f"Updating {type(sink_config)} sink named {sink_config.get_name()} {config_change_msg}")
+                new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()].stop()
+                new_sinks[sink_config.get_name()] = SinkFactory.create_sink(sink_config, registry)
 
         return new_sinks
 
diff --git a/src/robusta/runner/config_loader.py b/src/robusta/runner/config_loader.py
index 619c6386c..5b0cfa7f3 100644
--- a/src/robusta/runner/config_loader.py
+++ b/src/robusta/runner/config_loader.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import logging
 import os
 import pkgutil
+import signal
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import threading
@@ -40,7 +41,6 @@
 
 
 class ConfigLoader:
-
     # the structure on disk is:
     # root_playbook_path/
     # |- playbook_dir1
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ def __import_playbooks_package(cls, actions_registry: ActionsRegistry, package_n
                 # Reload is required for modules that are already loaded
                 m = importlib.reload(importlib.import_module(module_name))
                 playbook_actions = getmembers(m, Action.is_action)
-                for (action_name, action_func) in playbook_actions:
+                for action_name, action_func in playbook_actions:
                     actions_registry.add_action(action_func)
             except Exception:
                 logging.error(f"failed to module {playbooks_module}", exc_info=True)
@@ -226,9 +226,12 @@ def __reload_playbook_packages(self, change_name):
 
             except Exception:
                 logging.error(
-                    "unknown error reloading playbooks. will try again when they next change",
+                    "Error (re)loading playbooks/related resources, exiting.",
                     exc_info=True,
                 )
+                # Kill the whole process group (which means this process and all of its descendant
+                # processes). The rest of the runner shutdown happens in robusta.runner.process_setup.
+                os.killpg(os.getpgid(0), signal.SIGTERM)
 
     @classmethod
     def __prepare_runtime_config(
diff --git a/src/robusta/runner/main.py b/src/robusta/runner/main.py
index 4c53698b9..674d94ccf 100644
--- a/src/robusta/runner/main.py
+++ b/src/robusta/runner/main.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from robusta.patch.patch import create_monkey_patches
 from robusta.runner.config_loader import ConfigLoader
 from robusta.runner.log_init import init_logging, logging
+from robusta.runner.process_setup import process_setup
 from robusta.runner.ssl_utils import add_custom_certificate
 from robusta.runner.telemetry_service import TelemetryLevel, TelemetryService
 from robusta.runner.web import Web
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@
 
 
 def main():
+    process_setup()
     init_logging()
     ServerStart.set()
     if add_custom_certificate(ADDITIONAL_CERTIFICATE):
diff --git a/src/robusta/runner/process_setup.py b/src/robusta/runner/process_setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a5ff4d404
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/robusta/runner/process_setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import os
+import sys
+
+
+def process_setup():
+    if os.fork():
+        # Parent process, pid 1 in our deployment scenario. Wait (blocking - doesn't
+        # utilitze any CPU) for the forked "main" process to exit (if it ever does)
+        os.wait()
+        # At this point we are sure no subprocesses are running, so we can safely
+        # exit the pid 1 process, effectively causing the Docker image (and thus
+        # the k8s pod) to terminate.
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # Child process; create a process group to conveniently terminate the process
+    # along with subprocesses if need be via killpg. Currently the only use is in
+    # robusta.runner.config_loader.ConfigLoader.__reload_playbook_packages.
+    os.setpgrp()