diff --git a/src/axiom_py/client.py b/src/axiom_py/client.py
index 90e128c..d618314 100644
--- a/src/axiom_py/client.py
+++ b/src/axiom_py/client.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """Client provides an easy-to use client library to connect to Axiom."""
 
 import ndjson
+import atexit
 import gzip
 import ujson
 import os
@@ -128,6 +129,7 @@ class Client:  # pylint: disable=R0903
     datasets: DatasetsClient
     users: UsersClient
     annotations: AnnotationsClient
+    is_closed: bool  # track if the client has been closed ( for tests )
 
     def __init__(
         self,
@@ -175,6 +177,14 @@ def __init__(
         self.users = UsersClient(self.session)
         self.annotations = AnnotationsClient(self.session, self.logger)
 
+        # wrap shutdown hook in a lambda passing in self as a ref
+        atexit.register(lambda: self.shutdown_hook())
+        self.is_closed = False
+
+    def shutdown_hook(self):
+        self.session.close()
+        self.is_closed = True
+
     def ingest(
         self,
         dataset: str,
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 5ea4138..55c40b5 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 """This module contains the tests for the axiom client."""
 
+import sys
 import os
 import unittest
+from unittest.mock import patch
 import gzip
 import ujson
 import rfc3339
@@ -224,6 +226,17 @@ def test_step005_complex_query(self):
             agg = res.buckets.totals[0].aggregations[0]
             self.assertEqual("event_count", agg.op)
 
+    @patch("sys.exit")
+    def test_client_shutdown_atexit(self, mock_exit):
+        """Test client shutdown atexit"""
+        # Use the mock to test the firing mechanism
+        self.assertEqual(self.client.is_closed, False)
+        sys.exit()
+        mock_exit.assert_called_once()
+        # Use the hook implementation to assert the client is closed closed
+        self.client.shutdown_hook()
+        self.assertEqual(self.client.is_closed, True)
+
     @classmethod
     def tearDownClass(cls):
         """A teardown that checks if the dataset still exists and deletes it,