diff --git a/pkg/internal/testing/controlplane/plane.go b/pkg/internal/testing/controlplane/plane.go
index 36fd3c6306..733ea11b54 100644
--- a/pkg/internal/testing/controlplane/plane.go
+++ b/pkg/internal/testing/controlplane/plane.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ type ControlPlane struct {
 
 // Start will start your control plane processes. To stop them, call Stop().
 func (f *ControlPlane) Start() error {
+	success := false
 	if f.Etcd == nil {
 		f.Etcd = &Etcd{}
 	}
@@ -55,6 +56,12 @@ func (f *ControlPlane) Start() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	defer func() {
+		if !success {
+			f.Etcd.Stop()
+		}
+	}()
+
 	if f.APIServer == nil {
 		f.APIServer = &APIServer{}
 	}
@@ -63,6 +70,12 @@ func (f *ControlPlane) Start() error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	defer func() {
+		if !success {
+			f.APIServer.Stop()
+		}
+	}()
+
 	// provision the default user -- can be removed when the related
 	// methods are removed.  The default user has admin permissions to
 	// mimic legacy no-authz setups.
@@ -76,6 +89,8 @@ func (f *ControlPlane) Start() error {
 	}
 	f.defaultUserCfg = user.Config()
 	f.defaultUserKubectl = kubectl
+
+	success = true
 	return nil
 }