diff --git a/client/tailscale/localclient.go b/client/tailscale/localclient.go
index 9c2bcc467..5eb668176 100644
--- a/client/tailscale/localclient.go
+++ b/client/tailscale/localclient.go
@@ -1327,6 +1327,17 @@ func (lc *LocalClient) SetServeConfig(ctx context.Context, config *ipn.ServeConf
 	return nil
 }
 
+// DisconnectControl shuts down all connections to control, thus making control consider this node inactive. This can be
+// run on HA subnet router or app connector replicas before shutting them down to ensure peers get told to switch over
+// to another replica whilst there is still some grace period for the existing connections to terminate.
+func (lc *LocalClient) DisconnectControl(ctx context.Context) error {
+	_, _, err := lc.sendWithHeaders(ctx, "POST", "/localapi/v0/disconnect-control", 200, nil, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error disconnecting control: %w", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // NetworkLockDisable shuts down network-lock across the tailnet.
 func (lc *LocalClient) NetworkLockDisable(ctx context.Context, secret []byte) error {
 	if _, err := lc.send(ctx, "POST", "/localapi/v0/tka/disable", 200, bytes.NewReader(secret)); err != nil {
diff --git a/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go b/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go
index edd56f7c4..337fa3d2b 100644
--- a/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go
+++ b/ipn/ipnlocal/local.go
@@ -800,6 +800,19 @@ func (b *LocalBackend) pauseOrResumeControlClientLocked() {
 	b.cc.SetPaused((b.state == ipn.Stopped && b.netMap != nil) || (!networkUp && !testenv.InTest() && !assumeNetworkUpdateForTest()))
 }
 
+// DisconnectControl shuts down control client. This can be run before node shutdown to force control to consider this ndoe
+// inactive. This can be used to ensure that nodes that are HA subnet router or app connector replicas are shutting
+// down, clients switch over to other replicas whilst the existing connections are kept alive for some period of time.
+func (b *LocalBackend) DisconnectControl() {
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	defer b.mu.Unlock()
+	cc := b.resetControlClientLocked()
+	if cc == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	cc.Shutdown()
+}
+
 // captivePortalDetectionInterval is the duration to wait in an unhealthy state with connectivity broken
 // before running captive portal detection.
 const captivePortalDetectionInterval = 2 * time.Second
diff --git a/ipn/localapi/localapi.go b/ipn/localapi/localapi.go
index 0d41725d8..dc8c08975 100644
--- a/ipn/localapi/localapi.go
+++ b/ipn/localapi/localapi.go
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@
 	"derpmap":                     (*Handler).serveDERPMap,
 	"dev-set-state-store":         (*Handler).serveDevSetStateStore,
 	"dial":                        (*Handler).serveDial,
+	"disconnect-control":          (*Handler).disconnectControl,
 	"dns-osconfig":                (*Handler).serveDNSOSConfig,
 	"dns-query":                   (*Handler).serveDNSQuery,
 	"drive/fileserver-address":    (*Handler).serveDriveServerAddr,
@@ -952,6 +953,22 @@ func (h *Handler) servePprof(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	servePprofFunc(w, r)
 }
 
+// disconnectControl is the handler for local API /disconnect-control endpoint that shuts down control client, so that
+// node no longer communicates with control. Doing this makes control consider this node inactive. This can be used
+// before shutting down a replica of HA subnet  router or app connector deployments to ensure that control tells the
+// peers to switch over to another replica whilst still maintaining th existing peer connections.
+func (h *Handler) disconnectControl(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if !h.PermitWrite {
+		http.Error(w, "access denied", http.StatusForbidden)
+		return
+	}
+	if r.Method != httpm.POST {
+		http.Error(w, "use POST", http.StatusMethodNotAllowed)
+		return
+	}
+	h.b.DisconnectControl()
+}
+
 func (h *Handler) reloadConfig(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if !h.PermitWrite {
 		http.Error(w, "access denied", http.StatusForbidden)