diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/active/RecoveryTask.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/active/RecoveryTask.java
index 3bc1c28..34a54d1 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/active/RecoveryTask.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/active/RecoveryTask.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
  */
 package org.apache.asterix.app.active;
 
+import static org.apache.hyracks.util.ExitUtil.EC_ACTIVE_RECOVERY_FAILURE;
+
 import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 
 import org.apache.asterix.active.ActivityState;
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataset;
 import org.apache.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.ExitUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.IRetryPolicy;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
@@ -63,7 +66,18 @@
         IRetryPolicy policy = retryPolicyFactory.create(listener);
         return () -> {
             Thread.currentThread().setName("RecoveryTask (" + listener.getEntityId() + ")");
-            doRecover(policy);
+            try {
+                doRecover(policy);
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                LOGGER.warn("recovery task interrupted", e);
+                Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+                throw e;
+            } catch (Throwable t) {
+                // in case of any unexpected exception during recovery, the recovery attempts will stop forever.
+                // we halt to ensure recovery attempts are resumed after the restart
+                LOGGER.fatal("unexpected exception during recovery; halting...", t);
+                ExitUtil.halt(EC_ACTIVE_RECOVERY_FAILURE);
+            }
             return null;
         };
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/ExitUtil.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/ExitUtil.java
index beabb5d..8f8e8f6 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/ExitUtil.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/ExitUtil.java
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     public static final int EC_ACTIVE_SUSPEND_FAILURE = 17;
     public static final int EC_ACTIVE_RESUME_FAILURE = 18;
     public static final int EC_NC_FAILED_TO_NOTIFY_TASKS_COMPLETED = 19;
+    public static final int EC_ACTIVE_RECOVERY_FAILURE = 20;
     public static final int EC_FAILED_TO_CANCEL_ACTIVE_START_STOP = 22;
     public static final int EC_INCONSISTENT_STORAGE_REFERENCES = 23;
     public static final int EC_IMMEDIATE_HALT = 33;