diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 05b6cda..8456473 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2026-03-23 - 2.0.3 - fix(adapter.node)
+unref the node server before closing connections during shutdown
+
+- Calls server.unref() before closing all connections so shutdown does not keep the Node.js event loop alive.
+- Improves shutdown behavior for the Node adapter when stopping HTTP or HTTPS servers.
+
 ## 2026-03-23 - 2.0.2 - fix(adapter.node)
 close websocket server and active connections when stopping the Node adapter
 
diff --git a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
index 63ba2f4..a3d5f3d 100644
--- a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
+++ b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
  */
 export const commitinfo = {
   name: '@push.rocks/smartserve',
-  version: '2.0.2',
+  version: '2.0.3',
   description: 'a cross platform server module for Node, Deno and Bun'
 }
diff --git a/ts/adapters/adapter.node.ts b/ts/adapters/adapter.node.ts
index e07c167..d249609 100644
--- a/ts/adapters/adapter.node.ts
+++ b/ts/adapters/adapter.node.ts
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ export class NodeAdapter extends BaseAdapter {
     }
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       if (this.server) {
+        this.server.unref();
         this.server.closeAllConnections();
         this.server.close((err) => {
           if (err) reject(err);