diff --git a/backend/src/main.rs b/backend/src/main.rs
index a76b9fa6b5..a74a6d3be3 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/backend/src/main.rs
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ Windmill Community Edition {GIT_VERSION}
         }
         let valid_key = *LICENSE_KEY_VALID.read().await;
         if !valid_key && !server_mode {
-            panic!("Invalid license key, workers require a valid license key");
+            tracing::error!("Invalid license key, workers require a valid license key");
         }
         if server_mode {
             // only force renewal if invalid but not empty (= expired)
@@ -431,13 +431,6 @@ Windmill Community Edition {GIT_VERSION}
                     tracing::error!("Failed to reload license key: {err:#}");
                 }
             }
-            if num_workers > 0 {
-                let valid_key = *LICENSE_KEY_VALID.read().await;
-                if !valid_key {
-                    tracing::warn!("License key invalid, setting num_workers to 0");
-                    num_workers = 0;
-                }
-            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -684,14 +677,6 @@ Windmill Community Edition {GIT_VERSION}
                                                     if let Err(e) = reload_license_key(&db).await {
                                                         tracing::error!("Failed to reload license key: {e:#}");
                                                     }
-                                                    #[cfg(feature = "enterprise")]
-                                                    if worker_mode {
-                                                        let valid_key = *LICENSE_KEY_VALID.read().await;
-                                                        if !valid_key {
-                                                            tracing::error!("Invalid license key, exiting...");
-                                                            tx.send(()).expect("send");
-                                                        }
-                                                    }
                                                 },
                                                 DEFAULT_TAGS_PER_WORKSPACE_SETTING => {
                                                     if let Err(e) = load_tag_per_workspace_enabled(&db).await {
diff --git a/backend/src/monitor.rs b/backend/src/monitor.rs
index 4d3ca59c6d..321eff4609 100644
--- a/backend/src/monitor.rs
+++ b/backend/src/monitor.rs
@@ -1054,13 +1054,6 @@ pub async fn monitor_db(
         #[cfg(feature = "enterprise")]
         if !initial_load {
             verify_license_key().await;
-            if _worker_mode {
-                let valid_key = *LICENSE_KEY_VALID.read().await;
-                if !valid_key {
-                    tracing::error!("Invalid license key, exiting...");
-                    _killpill_tx.send(()).expect("send");
-                }
-            }
         }
     };
 
diff --git a/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs b/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs
index f276a0928e..19e0b61164 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-worker/src/worker.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 use windmill_common::{
     auth::{fetch_authed_from_permissioned_as, JWTAuthClaims, JobPerms, JWT_SECRET},
+    ee::LICENSE_KEY_VALID,
     scripts::PREVIEW_IS_TAR_CODEBASE_HASH,
     worker::{
         get_memory, get_vcpus, get_windmill_memory_usage, get_worker_memory_usage, write_file,
@@ -1072,6 +1073,28 @@ pub async fn run_worker(
     let mut killed_but_draining_same_worker_jobs = false;
 
     loop {
+        #[cfg(feature = "enterprise")]
+        {
+            if let Ok(_) = killpill_rx.try_recv() {
+                tracing::info!("killpill received on worker waiting for valid key");
+                job_completed_tx
+                    .0
+                    .send(SendResult::Kill)
+                    .await
+                    .expect("send kill to job completed tx");
+                break;
+            }
+            let valid_key = *LICENSE_KEY_VALID.read().await;
+
+            if !valid_key {
+                tracing::error!(
+                    "Invalid license key, workers require a valid license key, sleeping for 30s waiting for valid key to be set"
+                );
+                tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(10)).await;
+                continue;
+            }
+        }
+
         #[cfg(feature = "benchmark")]
         let mut bench = BenchmarkIter::new();
 
@@ -1635,6 +1658,7 @@ pub async fn run_worker(
 
     drop(job_completed_tx);
 
+    tracing::info!("waiting for job_completed_processor to finish processing remaining jobs");
     if let Err(e) = send_result.await {
         tracing::error!("error in awaiting send_result process: {e:?}")
     }
@@ -2293,7 +2317,7 @@ async fn handle_code_execution_job(
                 envs: None,
                 codebase: None,
             }
-        },
+        }
         JobKind::DeploymentCallback => {
             get_script_content_by_path(job.script_path.clone(), &job.workspace_id, db).await?
         }